An Odd Looking Smile by J.J. Campbell

I recently saw a picture
of my father and the
woman he spent the
last fifteen years of
his life with

considering it was
the first time I had
seen my father in
over twenty years

his smile looked
so odd and out
of place

of course, staring
at it for hours, that
smile started to tell
me that he never
missed me at all

I thought about
telling the preacher
at his funeral that
my father never
told me he loved
me but I didn’t

I knew the old fuck
had everyone fooled

if I didn’t hate him
enough already…