Christmas 1987

Let's workshop this poem about a child's hope that her absent father will fulfill his promise of a Nintendo, a detail that poignantly contrasts with the grown-up realities all around her

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Christmas 1987

They had to write
“From Daddy” on the gift:
never did she hesitate 
to remind her mom

(or any household ear)
he would fly down
with the Nintendo
promised—even though

she knew his name
on her lips, his crayon face
on her cardstock, 
crushed most to tears.

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