He Had 'Born to Lose' Tattooed Around His Rebel Flag

Papa hated it when I called
him dad. He’d say, “You ain’t got no daddy, boy!
You got a Papa!” He always wanted this:
a son that drank on his four-wheeler
and loved confederate symbolism.
I cannot give him this; I cannot
nail that fish to the post, Papa;
he’s gasping in my hand, Papa;
it ain’t like when we killed lightning bugs
and smeared their glory on our skin,
although it made me feel like a sun, then.
 
I’ve got to let go of how you drank yourself
to death, Papa. It ain’t like when I hung God
up on that cross. I can’t keep
nailing you to that post– Papa.
 
 
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