My middle name is David, after my father’s father.
One of the only times my dad has ever cried
was at my graduation, looking up at my name
and seeing that of his own dad.
I didn’t want to go to Oxford, I went for him.
And I didn’t want to do those exams, I did them for him.
And I didn’t ask to have that name, I had it for him.
And now, as I sit and write these words,
I realise at last that I don’t care what he thinks.
He could call this poem shit and I wouldn’t care.
I step outside, feel the cool spring air.
Joshua Seigal