Father When You See Your Son

Father when you see your son,
Against the heaving exhausted sob,
Begging for no more on
Thin sheets, does she hold him close for you?
Mother when your scream is done
Can you remember the taste of pain?
Is the new loved life tinged with bruises and
Torn muscle.

Or do you forget
Like hops and the passionate
Malted memories I have dropped
As though my nerves have no
Recall of what it's like to come
to in the morning
and rub my hand into a warm
crevice of the day with codeine and chilled beer.