My Dad's Face

Tom meltzer



When i look in the mirror i see my dad's face

Where my face used to be

Then i realize that he was about my age

When he started his own family

Then my radicalism, all my college marxism

Starts drifting on out to deep sea

When i look in the mirror and i see my dad's face

Where my face used to be





When i was a kid i used to look at my dad

And i'd say, "this is who i am not."

He used bryl-creem, i used hair spray

He was fat, i was skinny

He drank beer, i smoked pot

But now my feet are disappearing beneath an ocean of beer

And not so mysteriously

When i look at my face i see in its place

My dad's physiognomy





I used to look at my friends, they looked fifty years older

Some nights when i'd get too stoned

That's when i believed time was a visible line

With its end and beginning both shown

Now i know that's not true

But i've still got an idea pretty much of what i can expect

When i look in the mirror and i see my dad's mug

Sitting there right on top of my neck





Well, my dad had it rough, he couldn't keep his true love

He never reached his sought-after perfection

So as i headed down my own life's road

I headed straight in the other direction

Now, when i turn around, he's not so far away

And we're on the same road, i can see

When i look in the mirror and i see my dad's face

Where my face used to be


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