My Father Mocked Me for Coming to Court Without a Lawyer, But the Judge Opened My File and the Whole Room Went Silent

because my grandfather had always said he’d fix it after harvest and never quite got around to it. The shed roof repaired. The back acreage turning gold with the late season.

I walked the perimeter slowly, checking boards and corner posts and the places where weather had started small work on the edges. Under the porch rail, the initials were still continue reading …