the day my best friend changed his name

i wrote my father last night, after talking for an hour with my mom
she waited until she said goodbye to tell me
thom's mother was gone - she'd been gone since yesterday morning.
my mother asked if i was alright - my father stood in the kitchen.
i said yes, and then said goodbye, and then i sat alone on the bed and cried
like i was five
and my dad just shaved off his beard.