CRAIG BLAIS

[the first years after he and my mom were married]

the first years after he and my mom were married my dad would lie on their bed
w/ earmuff style headphones on listening to bob dylan and studying his lyrics
« he wanted to be a photographer » she told me and showed me one yellowed photo
he took of a storefront in greenwich village	she says he had the heart of a poet
« that/s where you get it from »	i remember that he sounded like rodney dangerfield
but i don/t say this	« when we started dating he bragged he/d seen the graduate
twenty times » she says	after she said this i went in the attic and brought down
his old turntable and a stack of records we hadn/t sold at tag sales over the years
i rented the graduate from the video store and watched dustin hoffman float around
a blue swimming pool	i wondered how much one person can learn about
someone else by listening to what they listened to and watching what they watched
hearing blonde on blonde playing in my bedroom my mom popped her head in
« you/ll never understand it like he did sweetie	you had to be alive back then »

CRAIG BLAIS is the author of Moon News (2021) and About Crows (2013). Chapters from his book-length poem The Vents have appeared in Arts & Letters, Gulf Coast, Harpur Palate, Laurel Review, and Salt Hill. Craig received his MFA from Wichita State University. He lives in Massachusetts and teaches at Anna Maria College.