Fictional Fathers Poem by Don Tiedemann

Fathers are never central to the narrative.
Not the protagonist certainly.
Typically, not even a speaking part.
They are there at the outset, but then
they go off to work or off to war.
They die of heart disease or lung cancer,
they leave for a younger woman,
they drink themselves to perdition.
Whatever the means, they exit the story
just as the drama starts to build,
and all the other characters are
compelled to overlook this sadness.