Father
FATHER
Jim Beam, Johnny Walker, Jack Daniels
friends with them all.
Miller, Busch, Ballantine, Schimidt
you held them close.
So busy with your “friends”
no time for baseball games,
fishing, hunting, talking. No
father-son adventures.
Only bond in smoke thickened
bars, playing at base of stool
while another was poured to
drown your sorrows.
Salesmen sweating and trembling
would come to the door, unsure
if anger, threats would greet them.
Only you and your “friends” knew.
Crumbs, soups, toast, hot dogs,
nothing nutritional. Wonder we
didn’t starve. Dirty rags worn
days at a time-kids can be cruel.
Was seven when I watched
Your back disappear for the
last time. Was fifteen when
died saving another boy.
Lonely, cold Christmases,
birthdays passed uncelebrated.
Thanks for your legacy.
You were a great father
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