This is a poem in two parts and it's
written in two line stanzas.
Fathers.
One.
Your father comes to announce his dissatisfaction
with heaven.
He wears only an undershirt as he stands besides your bed,
shifting from foot to foot.
He wants to sleep beside you, curling his knees
against your wife's back.
After you send him away, you hear him running water
all night in the bathroom.
How long it takes to shave.
Your own chin feel smooth against the heat of your palm.
Two.
Your father is reading deep in your favorite chair.
You shudder in your pajamas as you open your razor showing him
the sharp blade, which has cut your chin so deep that blood
flows in the hollow of your throat.
After he puts you to bed, you hear him turning pages
all night in the other room.
How long it takes to sleep.
Against your softly beating heart
your wife dreams of other men.