In and Out of TV Consciousness

My dad died tomorrow
four years ago,
and so I imagine him
sitting on some sofa
that would make atheists
grumble their circular fundamentalisms.

He's there with his tall glass
of White Horse whiskey
and his colorful game board
of medications, each somehow
connected to his heart trouble.

Before vanishing into Arizona,
he wasn't interested in health.
Talked more about self-death
and animosities, things he would
remember again and again against
the raspy sweeping
of altzheimer's impeccable broom.

So, today, the day before Father's Day
four years ago, I watch
a jittery loop of images
shining just behind my forehead,
of Dad nodding in and out of TV consciousness
as some eternally uncancelled series of JAG episodes
are broadcast by some discount cable channel
in heaven or hell.



by jerry gordon
6.18.10