my father said
five bucks
will get us to the shore
in time to drop our names
in the hat
where they pull
a million dollar winner
each month.

when i was 12
i took him up on it.
we drove
straight thru dawn,
talked how fathers and sons
must some day,
the one where he listens
to everything i know -

how the world was candy
and i had the teeth
to prove it.
how clouds
over the Whitman bridge
were Abe Lincoln
watching with an honest eye.

near the boardwalk,
i talked with my mouth full,
told him what i knew about girls,
promised life got better
as you grew younger,
had the waitress bring him
a cup of cocoa
to cheer him up.

we didn’t win a thing that day
but came home
with enough gas
to reach Lake Winona
where i corrected his release,
taught him the right grip
to get two more skips
from his stones.