Telling dad the trials and tribulations of Atomic City (Minneapolis Radiation Oncology) by Alex Stolis

Telling dad the trials and tribulations of Atomic City (Minneapolis Radiation Oncology)

Remember when I was thrown in jail, called you
to bail me out; what wasn’t said meant the most.

Remember when I got clean, was afraid to say so
even knowing you got sober when I was twelve,

and when finally, I mustered the courage you said
Been waiting for you, I’m glad you made it, son.

How we went to AA meetings together, then made
the rounds to all the local bars, nursing our Cokes,

reminiscing with old-timers who used to get drunk
in your bar. Remember how you’d tell them about

my fourteenth birthday, taking me out to Bridgeman’s
and I ate two hot fudge banana sundaes, and a burger.

Remember when my sister was hospitalized after her
third, fourth or sixth suicide attempt, you said to me,

you’re responsible for the effort, son, not the outcome;
or the time you explained to my soon-to-be-ex-wife

what it meant to drink yourself sober; she stormed off,
and we laughed because she didn’t want to understand.

Today, the doc told me that after seven weeks, thirty
-five radiation treatments, and ten months of meds,

I’m cancer free.

Sixteen years ago, I gave your eulogy at St. George’s,
pews filled with a legacy of strength, hope, promises

fulfilled. I’m still sober, still looking for direction;
still hear, well done, son, I’m proud of you.

*

Alex Stolis lives in Minneapolis; he has had poems published in numerous journals. Two full length collections Pop. 1280, and John Berryman Died Here were released by Cyberwit and available on Amazon. His chapbook, Postcards from the Knife-Thrower’s Wife, was released by Louisiana Literature Press in 2024, RIP Winston Smith from Alien Buddha Press 2024, and The Hum of Geometry; The Music of Spheres, 2024 by Bottlecap Press.