MY FATHER’S HOUSEdied on September 4th, 2020, at the age of twenty-three. That was somuch easier than putting my father’s war medals into a brown boxand taping it closed. I treated my teenage home like a swordfish,waited for it to stop breathing and then scraped the insides clean. This is a special kind of betrayal, an unforgivable treason. “My Father’s House” by Rudy Francisco, from Excuse Me As I Kiss the Sky, Copyright © 2023.