Chad Haskins

APPARITION

I forgot how deep
the shallow grave was.

The photograph
is light and heavy in
my trembling hand.
                                             
There we are together:
A reminder of
what once was.

What did you do, precious baby,
to get your daddy to hold you
cheek to cheek?

Look at the pride in his eyes,
chin high
beneath a glowing smile,

embracing you
with both arms;
he can’t get close enough.

How did you
fuck that up?


Chad reads "Apparition":



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Chad confesses: I stumbled across an old photograph of my father holding me when I was a baby; it stirred up many feelings because we have been estranged for a long time. The poem “Apparition” is a glimpse into my head and heart as I stared at the picture of us together.

CHAD HASKINS lives in Newnan, Georgia with his wife and two sons. Chad's poems appear in Rose and Thorn Journal, Untitled Country Review, Blue Collar Review, and are forthcoming in Powder Burn Flash and Yellow Mama.