a dad who paints
and dances
to music nobody knows

a dad who points out buildings,
telling what they were in the prime of New York
reminding me what his generation
has built to replace the hundred year old structures,

condos

a mom who is in the midst of constructing
a future of caffeination
and binge watches cop shows with me till 12 AM
and sends me pictures of our dog sleeping
in the same position every time

a mom who wants to start a mother daughter book club
but can never find a good book
a mom who brings me water
when she knows I am not asleep
yet

a friend who laughs
and draws fantastical characters
in imagined lands
and writes about rain
         and fire
         and foxes

this is my normal
this my unexceptional
yet strikingly brilliant

family