His dad always told him
“You can do anything
Be anything”
And he believed him
Some days he was a
Dancer
Director
Dentist
Or even a
Dinosaur
But never was he a doctor.
He had seen
The worn lines etched
Across his father’s face
Too many times
Memorized the swells
Under the man’s eyes
Too closely
Sensed the intensity
Of his father’s agony
Frustration
Pain
After a patient’s
Death
Too deeply.
He understood science
Biology, chemistry, physics
But never would he be able
To grasp the science
Of knowing someone’s
Death is inevitable.
“You can be a doctor”
His father told him
“You have everything
You’d need”
His father never understood
The science of a boy
Who just wanted his father
At home.