My father dropped me off
my first year of college,
notebooks, pens, a dictionary
and a dress shirt I never wore
on a hanger my mother packed for church
and a suitcase of clothes,
I was not an easy child to raise
and he was nervous
about me going away to college,
where State Road 28 dissected
Elwood, Indiana, we stopped
coffee and a stale donut
and we talked…
about staying out of trouble
and attending church
and politics
and he explained
Jesus would be a communist today
and he voted for FDR and Truman,
and when Ike ran for president,
he became an Eisenhower Republican
and he said he will always be
a loyal American
and he believed Jesus would be more careful
about what he preached
and memories of this conversation
have made all the difference.
4-21-23
My husband's poetry 
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