James Keane’s most recent poem to appear here was “On My Way” (September 2017). 

Don’t go in the garage
By James Keane

A smile like love
radiating from the man
who was my father gently
nudged you toward a mirage
of hope, but not so far
in the end from the frozen
anguish enveloping you when finally
you found him, no mirage,
in the car,
                 after hearing, unbelieving,
an engine groaning
in the dark, behind the door
displaying a declaration of love
you ignored:

Don’t go in the garage.

You went in. You wavered.
You forced your way
back out. “I couldn’t leave
my children,” you said.

And only now I thank you
from the bottom of
my selfish heart. Too
late. Too late. A lifetime
too late. You’re
five years dead.