A Father’s Advice

My dad always said,
Pee in the middle of the toilet,
then they know you got something.

When I went to college he told me,
Don’t drink vodka. People can’t smell it
and they’ll think you’re stupid.

That’s about all the advice he outright gave me.
For years he has let me screw up in silence,

and that quiet advice is just beginning to be clear to me.