The Apple & the Tree

Alyx tells me I can never quit working, Dad tells me the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. What’s wrong? he asks again. The answer, of course, is nothing, and it’s the same answer he always gives to me.

What’s wrong, kiddo? What’s wrong?

Oh but I am only tired, old man— dog-tired, as you know well. Birds of a feather, you and I: mired. Only tired: tired, wired, and all dried up.

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(2024)