"My Father Does His Own Dental Work"

My father does his own dental work.

A power drill and epoxy

and steady hands—

On Christmas Day, he mistook

the Macy's star

for the Viet Cong flag.

While watching

Forrest Gump, he told me

how he too carried a friend.

"He squeezed

around my throat so tight,

I thought I'd die with him."