DADDY, WE’RE ENGAGED His expression is like a crab moving sideways and backwards and forwards at will. The eyes, the nose, the mouth, are as restless as small dogs. They can’t settle on a frown. And a smile is seemingly beyond them. We stand before him, our fingers clutching and unclutching, together elsewhere, but insecurely tethered here. We came to tell him but it feels as if we’re asking his permission. I know my own mind. You know yours. But that’s still one mind short.
About the Author: John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Sheepshead Review, Stand, Poetry Salzburg Review and Hollins Critic. Latest books, “Leaves On Pages” “Memory Outside The Head” and “Guest Of Myself” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Ellipsis, Blueline and International Poetry Review.
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Image Credit: Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse: Berlin ;Bei Gottlieb August Lange,1782-1804. Image courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library
As It Ought To Be 