A Month After My Dad Died, I Dream of Him
by Courtney LeBlanc
He looks just like he did in the pictures we thumbed
during his last week––trim and impossibly young,
his face unlined and his coal black hair still thick.
We are at a party, standing close and talking. We are
somehow the same age, in that magical way of dreams,
though he is still my father, and I am still his daughter.
When he reaches out to touch me, I wake, the promise
of his embrace sliding off my skin in the cool morning air
during his last week––trim and impossibly young,
his face unlined and his coal black hair still thick.
We are at a party, standing close and talking. We are
somehow the same age, in that magical way of dreams,
though he is still my father, and I am still his daughter.
When he reaches out to touch me, I wake, the promise
of his embrace sliding off my skin in the cool morning air
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the full length collections Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart, and Beautiful & Full of Monsters, chapbooks All in the Family and The Violence Within. She is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning. Read her publications on her blog: www.wordperv.com. Follow her on Twitter @wordperv and on Instagram @wordperv79.