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Windward Review

Volume 18, 2021

Volume 18, 2021

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Part Two<br />

I sit down in the low chair<br />

Take a sip of water<br />

Put on my red reading glasses<br />

I think about how Atticus became the model papa for me<br />

My namesake deserted my brother Paul and me<br />

My step-father had been deserted himself by his father<br />

He did the best he knew how to do<br />

But Atticus was reasonable, articulate, fair, and a crack shot<br />

I have tried to follow his lead as a father<br />

Part Three<br />

I look up at the small congregation of onlookers<br />

Friends, colleagues, fellow lovers of this singular book and<br />

Random passersby<br />

In the empty back row chairs<br />

I imagine my daughter and my son sitting<br />

I imagine my mother and my father sitting<br />

I imagine all of my former literature students sitting<br />

I imagine Truman Capote sitting<br />

I imagine Gregory Peck sitting<br />

I imagine Harper Lee and her daddy sitting<br />

I wet my lips<br />

Take a deep breath<br />

I begin<br />

116 WINDWARD REVIEW | Vol. 18

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