A Mermaid Shirt

She’s going to fall in love

Wearing a mermaid shirt

Do you believe it?

I had her swinging off the roof

I was like—

Danielle, you get down from that roof

But I had to fake how mad I was

Because I thought the whole thing
Was pretty sweet

To tell you the truth

My first time falling in love was

When I turned eight-years-old

I fell for Mike Collins

The boy across the street

That my sister was dating

Danielle’s eleven

So even though I tell her

She’s too young

To be in love

Truthfully, she’s a little behind

Her mother

In that regard

But I still get nervous

That she’s going to get her heart broken
Because she’s so damn sweet

And trusting

And summer’s only so long

She’s running around

In that mermaid shirt

Acting like Hercules

Couldn’t lift her

Because her soul’s so full

And that just means

When the Fall rolls around

She’s going to crack into more pieces

Than I can pick up

This is where her father would come in handy

If he wasn’t stuck in the Middle East

Trying to sell Jeep Wranglers

To the Saudi’s

He’s the one who sent Danielle

The mermaid shirt

And now she won’t take it off

Because she thinks it’s magical

Just because

It came from far away

I told her I can get her ten more shirts like that one

At the Target

But she won’t let me wash it

Or even look at it funny

Even though it’s gotta smell by now

And I doubt any boy’s going to love her

If she’s wearing a dirty shirt

With a mermaid on it

Right now she’s dancing on the roof

To whatever that song is

I can’t stand

And if I was half the parent
My mother was

I would force her to come down

And do these dishes

That have been sitting here

Since last Halloween

But…

She hasn’t smiled in awhile

What with her dad gone and all

And I only know so many jokes

To make her laugh

So…

So if a boy makes her happy enough
To dance on the roof
Wearing a shirt with some girl on it

With seashells

For a bra--

Then so be it

Let something else

Take her down

Because it’s not

Gonna be me

She was up there for five hours

Yesterday

And when she came down

She plopped

Right down next to me

On the couch

While I was watching Jeopardy

The next thing I know

Her head is in my lap
And she’s snoring so loud

I couldn’t even hear the clues

But I stroked her hair

And just, you know

Just looked at her

Your kids get to an age

When they don’t really let you

Look at them anymore

Because it makes ‘em feel weird--

You staring at them

Like there’s something wrong

When really

You can’t just get over

How fast they’re growing up

I kind of just…savored it

Her laying down

Fast asleep on me

Like she used to do

When she was little

My little girl

All full up on love

And summer

And wearing a shirt

Her dad bought her

That she never wants

To take off

God, I thought, there’s so much

Weighing on my mind

But you gave me a little girl

Who still wants to fall asleep on me

When she’s too tired to hold herself up

And if that isn’t the best thing on earth
Then I don’t know what is

And maybe one of these days

She’ll let me wash that shirt

But if she doesn’t…

Well

There’s plenty of other things

To worry about