Camp Hollyburn, 1996

On the day of their wedding, my father

wore a well pressed tie dye t-shirt,

with the curving outline of a moose

stamped on the front. My mother

wore a crisp blue dress, cut at the knee

and beige boat shoes from Value Village.

The whole wedding took place

between the wood panels of two canoes,

twelve cabins and a dock.

my aunt read a poem, my godmother

lead the crowd in Bill Withers, Lean on Me,

and the groomsmen jumped in the lake in their suits.

One guy lost his car keys in the water,

my father says he’s never laughed as hard as he did

while they waded through the lake in sopping,

heavy trousers, kicking up sand under the dock

for four hours before they found them.

He never remembers the guy’s name –

says that’s what happens when you get old.