My father never liked
To call someone for help.
When he painted the house
It smelled like gunpowder
And dried spaghetti.
He covered up the walls
With a yellow paint and worked on his castle.
Sometimes a man has to get his hands dirty,
He liked to say.
My mother watched him bleed
Trying to fix the simplest things.
He never read the instructions.
One day they might teach you
How to shit.
There are things
A man should do alone.