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.