Beyond the Snows of Winter

BEYOND THE SNOWS OF WINTER You go on ahead, my son, I’ll catch up with you when the snow reaches the end of winter You have your life to live and worlds to explore Where you are headed I won’t be going Maybe I will be there in spirit ensconced in your memory But I will always have the memories we built The many baseball games you played and starred Do you recall, I was there for all of them? There were many pitching practices behind our house And at Moore Field chasing fly balls I hit to you I’ll never forget the day we went to Dodger Stadium and saw Fernando pitch that perfect no-hitter, remember? I’ll never forget you practicing the piano And how good you were becoming The teacher said that with practice You could become a really good pianist Those days are in our past But our story goes way back The playful reality we enjoyed became a nightmare And those wonderful memories lie in the dustbin of my memory Our relationship devolved through the years You're more distant now; a father-son past put away Never to return, never to be mentioned Life is not fair they say and it’s true I only remember the good times of those days Our many laughs and slurpees after games And how you developed into a fine young man To become a well respected professional attorney I wish you continued success, my boy That’s what you have always been to me, my precious child My pride and joy; you remain so to this day as you always will My days have come and gone and I will leave you shortly To reach that plateau of respite I direly need To dwell beyond the snows of winter in my long sleep Dreaming of what it was and what could have been I sense Time anxiously counting the minutes, egging me on The Specter with the scythe beckons with its bony digit Vigilantly, patiently waiting for my spirit to let go To join the ethereal collective