I dream my house has no floor
or ceiling and I cannot stop falling,
hitting my head on plaster walls.
I wake to pouring rain, lightning.
I wake and miss my dad,
miss knowing I could call and hear
his voice or go to the kitchen
late at night and find him watching
Doctor Who. How he’d laugh
when I mocked the costumes, explain
why he liked the last Doctor best.
How he’d offer me toast and tea
and we’d keep watching
as the next episode began.
Andrea Scarpino is the author of the poetry collections Once Upon Wing Lake, What the Willow Said as it Fell, and Once, Then, and co-editor of the anthology Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice. She is co-editor of Nine Mile Magazine and served as Poet Laureate of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula 2015-2017. She currently lives and teaches in St. Louis. You can find her at www.andreascarpino.com