Daddy Dozens

My Daddy’s forehead is so big, we don’t need a dining room

table. My Daddy’s forehead so big, his hat size is equator. So

big, it’s a five-head. Tyra Banks burst into tears when she seen

my Daddy’s forehead. My Daddy’s forehead got its own area code.

My Daddy baseball cap got stretch marks. My Daddy pillowcase

got craters. His eyebrows need GPS to find each other. My Daddy

forehead lives in two time zones. Planets confuse my Daddy forehead

for the sun. Couch cushions lose quarters in the wrinkles in my Daddy

forehead. My Daddy so smart, he fall asleep with the movie on and

wake up soon as the credits start to roll. My Daddy so smart, he

perform surgery on his own ingrown toenail. Momma was not

impressed, but my Daddy got brains. My Daddy know exactly

how to drive me to my friend’s house without lookin at no map.

My Daddy born here, he so smart, he know the highways like

the wrinkles in his forehead. He know the free clinics like the gray

hairs on his big ass head. My Daddy so smart, he wear a stethoscope

and a white coat. My Daddy drive to work in a minivan only slightly

bigger than his forehead, that’s just how my Daddy rolls. My Daddy

got swag. My Daddy dance to “Single Ladies” in the hallway.

My Daddy drink a small coffee cream and sugar. My Daddy

drink a whole can of Red Bull. My Daddy eat a whole pack

of sour Skittles and never had a cavity. My Daddy so smart,

he got a pullout couch in his office. Got a mini fridge there too.

Got a cell phone, and a pager, and a email address where I can leave

him messages when he’s not at home. My Daddy’s not home.

Momma saves a plate that turns cold.

But when my Daddy does come home, he got a office

in his bedroom too. Computer screen night light,

Momma says she can’t sleep right, but my Daddy

got work, my Daddy at work, at home, in the attic,

with the TV on, in the dark, from the front yard,

through the windows, you can see him working, glass

flickering, my house got its own forehead, glinting, sweaty,

in the evening, while my Daddy at work, at home,

in his own area code,

a whole other time zone.