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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN#/ ISBN# issue/book “You Won’t See Me” cc&d, v305 (the January 2021 issue) Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book What Lies on the Other Side the cc&d Jan.-April 2021 magazine issues collection book		get the 424 page Jan.-April 2021 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

One Man’s Castle

Joseph J. Ridgway

Finally —
home from Hades,
collapsed at the kitchen counter,
a beer can raised to my face,
cover against the severe scowl
of my youngest daughter
who was frantically fishing the garbage bin,
searching for my discarded plastic carrier,
savagely slicing each roundel in half,
returning its castrated remains to the trash.
That crap kills innocent animals, you know!
After offering our dog an exaggerated greeting,
I attempted a humble escape.
You can’t speak to mom like that.
Like what? I snapped? Like that!
My eldest daughter’s eyes slowly ascended,
seemingly searching for the source of my stupidity.
In the meanwhile, my
heroin enchained middle daughter
chronicled all
I yearned to hear,
regardless of its falsity.
But it felt like freedom —
tasted so sweet —
in those dark and sour hours.
My only son soon joined me —
Both of us relieved to agree upon
the significance of sports,
the import of empathy,
the temerity of Trump, and
our mutual forbearance of the other’s foibles.

Good fortune over fame, my
wondrous wife of a million miles,
my fierce and contrasting offspring — they are
my ramparts and parapets against the arrows of the night.

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