My dad creates signs
There is a post on the driveway
Pointing across the state
And down the road
And around the world
There are weather vanes — five
On every peak of every building
So we know which way the wind blows
There is a sign on my desk
On my neighbor’s front lawn
On the telephone pole as you come down the hill
My dad creates stories
With every label, a history
Truth is what you make of it
And he weaves it into something interesting
Into something worth remembering
The ghost story of the car skidding into a frozen lake
The magic of Leroy and his music
The werewolves he told me lived in the buildings
Behind my favorite breakfast place
My dad creates connections
Like the signs measuring distance
Or the weather vanes showing the direction
There is a thread between everything
Between us and the constellations he can name in a circle
Between us and who he gathers around the dinner table
Everyone taken care of so everyone can just be
I like signs and stories and connections too
Like the names I give my cars
Or the stories I ink on my skin
Or the way I look up at the stars
And want to be able to see them, to name them
And be just like him
With Love,
Natalie