my father is a halibut

My father is a Halibut 

we lived on a small island in the stream 
a ferry boat took us into town 
on one such a day on our way to Houston 
my father wordlessly jumped overboard
the ferry shipper stopped the boat
and looked, but there was no sign of him
I had the heavy task to break this news 
to my mother, who walked into the kitchen
to compose herself
The noise from the kitchen sounded like
repressed laughter of relief.
Since my father was officially missing 
she was still married to him, but she found
work on the mainland as a waitress 
Five years later, two fishermen caught
an enormous halibut that looked human 
aghast, they threw the fish overboard 
The story appeared in an angler's mag
to my mother, she was not surprised 
she said, your father was addicted to sex
I still try to work out what she meant