Amy Riddell

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Inheritance

On my doorstep,
my father’s utter ruin,

boxed up and delivered
by the state.

Inside, his unwashed trousers,
his prison-issue socks.

His toothbrush,
mouthwash, and bar

of generic soap, as if
one day he’d come clean.

No lullabies, no sweet-
dreams kisses in here.

Only the empty bowl
of a broken pipe

and half-finished charcoal
drawing of my face, back

when he knew it. Still,
his bruised scent clings

to everything he left
me with, and to the women

he left, blessedly, alive.

Amy Riddell is author of a full-length poetry collection, Bullets in the Jewelry Box (FutureCycle) and two chapbooks, Prayer of Scalpel & Ash, (Rockwood Press) and Narcissistic Injury (Pudding House). A Pushcart nominee, Amy’s poems have appeared in various journals, including South Florida Poetry Journal, The Inflectionist Review, Quartet Journal, ONE ART,  RockPaperPoem, Philly Chapbook Review, and Rust & Moth