bliss station ~ poetry

call back in ten minutes

I trim my beard over the sink

my father shaved his beard over

[ the sink ] under the mirror

he looked into & I look into.

no more making crosswords

for him / no more asking what

the highway billboards mean.

he used to tell me he used to

queue outside PCOs on half-price

sundays to call back home / first

ring up the neighbors' landline &

tell them he'll call back in ten mins

[ in ten minutes ] my grandparents

mothed & withered in wiry voices.

maybe I was there on his shoulders

[ when ] they cut his chest for lung

water [ when ] he leaned against

the sunmica [ when ] he requeued

before the PCO but did not know

what tears had to do with longing.

his old spice lather & lazer razor

give way to my electric trimmer.

I blow the bits of hair off the edge

[ of the sink ] [ under the mirror ]

watching water wash everything

away [ from ] into helical sinkholes.

~ Ajay
2/5/2020