Dad showed his interest
in us kids by clipping
articles from the New York Times
Clipping was safer
than kissing, or brushing
flesh on flesh
The coelacanth, a fish thought
to be extinct was rediscovered
trapped in a fisherman’s net
We envision his lunge
eons ago from sea to land,
unwieldy body, sprouting
lungs and appendages
Like Dad, unmoored,
an outsider, searching
for his spot on earth
Dad, an odd fish. We
five kids agree, days
after the newsprint fades
Today we ask: what drove
the coelacanth from the sea?
What spurred Dad
to leave us, his family?
Perhaps it was curiosity
that led him to risk an
unraveling, the long,
arduous journey
to end in a curious,
dubious finale.
