Spreadsheet Wizard

To my Father: Thank you for being a great dad, and for making yourself a better one every day.

Dad never forgot his keys on the table.
Wasn’t enough room.

The kids spilled their things over it throughout the day.
And he’d tell us,
“It’s important to maintain your space.”
“Don’t make your mother work while I’m away”

But mom was prone to sacrifice,
And we were pretty willful kids.
All of us agree; we could have done better.
And I still can’t ever find my keys.

---

Dad never left his papers on the table.

It makes sense;
He deals in sensitive information:
Charts and spreadsheets and vast swathes of text inlaid with
Talks of particles that are measured in milli-somethings.

He said “We double-check each other’s decimals,
Lest the patient dies with us to blame.”

---

Sometimes dad brought home a suitcase.

Left it by the leg of a table that still stands there
In the nook budding from the kitchen.

The aluminum box sheltered an acrylic vessel.
Said it helped him talk to fire;
Told it to burn tumors, but spare flesh.

---

My father took me to the office once.

On his desk was the newton’s cradle we got him for Christmas eight years prior.
When the desk got boring,
My brother and I would name the fishes in the waiting room aquarium
While dad went over more charts and spreadsheets.

---

Lately, my dad’s been forgetting things on the table.

Now that we’ve left the house,
There’s room amongst the grandkids’ toys.
Every Saturday he reminds me that we’re supposed to wake up early
For our Sunday morning ride.

I tell him about the life I’ve lived with legs aching over breakfast.
There’s a new house,
And a different kitchen nook.
Where the table we used to dine on has been reassigned-
Now too small for its intended purpose.

---

I dropped my keys on the dining room table.

Meant to make a quick visit,
But got caught up in legos and barbie dolls.
Dad asked if I was up for coffee, when it had already been made.

I forgot my keys on the table,
Though, it seems like nothing’s out of place.

---

From the Author

Today’s post is a bonus! I’ve come into a bit of time as of late, and I wanted to share some more poetry with you this week. Thank you Kaylen at Kaylenpoetryblog for the writing prompt!

I struggled a TON with this project, but I’m happy that I did. Working on it became something special to me- A poem to share with someone I have so much love and respect for. I hope that it can stand as proof of that love and respect.

This is a work about my Dad.