I remember one moment at the age of six

My mother sat on our front porch, sobbing
Because dad left
Once again

I can remember how he threw his clothes in a bag
And said “I’m not coming back.”

He took one look
At his six year old daughter
With big doe brown eyes and long dark curly hair
And thought -

Nothing.

He didn’t think at all
He opened the screen door with ease
The same way he turned on the ignition of the truck
And backed out of the gravel driveway

The same way he heard my mother’s cry
Over the phone
And still didn’t come back

To dad - who was more absent
than the maturity of boys I was with
Much too late at night