claiming none

Coasters and hard wood tops
of the bar
not THE bar
but a bar
where the tender converses intently at the end while my empty beer calls silently to her.
I don't call her
Her mom died recently, I hear her say
and I wonder at the loss
of parents
Grandparents and blood lines
thick and tireless
year after year
Not death itself
that's a thought over done
but the loss of presence
the loss of those thoughts
in the minds' spine
"I should go see so and so"
or
"I need to get mom a present"
or
little trickling memories of occasion
of times in youth when
one "used to"
How many "used to's" will be lost on those who opt out of parenthood?
There's a subtle checkbox at tax time
Claimant's?
I'm claiming two as mine, how many are you?
None.
I claim none.
Though my thoughts and actions are still mine, may I write them off?
The ones always on my mind or the ones I'm forever responsible for better or worse?
'Tis a rambling nature
these worlds spread amock
and they come forth
from a rambling mouth
fit to run far more amock...