joels' 40th birthday

Liz was 17
I was 21 when he were born
Liz in contractions on the rooming house bed with Babette the downstairs janitor phoning for help and a cop showed up looking down at Liz moaning from the doorway and said nothing not to her or to me
just walked away
can’t remember how we got to the hospital but there a doctor eyeing my shoulder length hair said what are you doing here and security came and asked for ID of the father to be
I remember him in a blue blanket with red wrinkled face of a new born and my skinny long fingers
I thought it was the last time I’d ever see him