what's it to you?

many years ago 
we had a family reunion
 a party 
for my dad's birthday

 one of the attendees 
my cousin myles
 had a habit
 he asked
 questions vs having a conversation

during the weekend
 he sat with my dad 
sipping coffee 
he had been peppering dad
 with
 'conversation' 
for a while 
when
 he said 
uncle iz how are you?

 my dad replied 
what's it to you? 

my cousin was stunned into silence by dad's directness 
the rest of us within ear shot
 pretended not to be listening 

anyway 

after i took this shot 
that remark
 which
 over the years 
has become
 a sort of private joke 
between my husband and i 
popped into my head 

i think 
this pup
 was 
channeling
 my pop