A Daughter's Memory

My father spoke in tongues.
He was an articulate man
but glossolalia marked him.
There was nothing of religion in it;
his speech was catholic
(I looked it up)
and born of humor,
and maybe something more.
Why did he exercise so much
his talent for fictional language?
I thought perhaps he was reaching for
an expression of something he didn't understand,
but honestly I felt that whatever it was,
it was pulling him away. I'm sorry now
I never asked him why he spoke in tongues--
and on this, of all things, he was mute.

March 6 2016