my father was a sailor his ship
torpedoed & 26 men killed my
mother didn't know who died
she received a telegram two days later
my Dad was safe, playing cards
when the torpedo hit his bunk
others not so lucky

we had a black lacquered photo album full
of pictures of the ship
the pages smelled heavy like Japanese incense i
turned each page looking in the twisted wreckage
wondering where the men were but
all i saw was splinters of metal and wood a hole
larger than my father with his arms spread
out as far as he could reach them

after the war
my mother & sister and i
went on a tour of that
destroyer
my father uninjured, but so many other
lives gone

my father was a fisherman
trout and bass swam in our sink waiting
for my Mom to clean and cook them
she told us quietly
Dad had a weak stomach after his ship was hit
she said
the bodies of his friends were under the water &
he couldn't see them until the water receded.