A Knock At My Door

I met her in a bar one night when I was on a business trip;
We were both feeling lonely and had one too many sips.
We spent the night together and got a little passionate;
She was gone in the morning and that was the end of it.

He knocked on my door as a twenty-one year old kid;
Said he was the result of what two young strangers did.
He handed me an envelope while standing in the door;
When I read the letter stuffed inside my jaw dropped to the floor.

“I took a business card from you when I slipped out in the night,
Expecting that I’d look you up and thinking that I might.
But as the days turned into weeks I never got the chance
And then I started noticing some tightening in my pants.

“I didn’t want to bother you with the news of your son;
I figured I would struggle through this thing that we had done.
He really was a fine young boy and has developed into a man;
The news of my cancer put a damper on our plans.

“If you are reading this letter, I am buried in the ground;
I told him all about you and the address that I found.
He may be too proud to go on a search for you,
But he is a little curious so I told him he ought to.”

I stared at this young man, who looked an awful lot like me;
I never took on a wife; never had a family.
I was happy living on my own, suffering all alone;
I opened up the front door and welcomed him in my home.

Now I’m the happy grandfather of three beautiful little kids;
Raising this boy alone, she should be proud of what she did.
Doing this job all by herself; she must have been real brave;
Thirty years since that night, I’m laying flowers on her grave.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2010



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Date: 6/16/2012 6:15:00 PM
Beautiful heartfelt write Joe, one never knows what life will throw at them.
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Date: 9/8/2010 10:10:00 AM
Joe your words played out in front of me.. Absolute gem ~ Wilma
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Date: 9/8/2010 9:33:00 AM
I agree with Carolyn..good movie material..Good one..glad I stopped by. BG
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Date: 9/8/2010 9:11:00 AM
Such a touching poem, Joe. I guess these things happen, but it's a shame when a child has to grow up without one of his parents. It seems as though this lack of interaction early in life was made up in the later years. Your poem could be the basis for a great movie! Love, Carolyn
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Date: 9/8/2010 8:24:00 AM
wow, I love it, brought out emotions in me as good poetry should, great job Joe
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