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
Categories:
ballantine, addiction, father, loss,
Form: Free verse
14th of February a day dedicated to love for centuries
A day shared across nations and countries
For so long this day held no significance
For what seemed like forever until you came along and made a difference
You became the roses I wished I would receive
You became the Chocolate kisses I would move mountains to retrieve
You became every love letter I hoped would be for me
You became the message in a bottle while I was lost at sea
I believe it was for love like ours that a man gave up his life
If we lived in the 1970’s I would plead the mater for love to pronounce you my wife
A love so rare and ravishing it should be written in the paperbacks of Ballantine
14th of February a day I devote to you, be my forever Valentine
Categories:
ballantine, for her, happiness, happy,
Form: Rhyme
Little Lucy Lancelot lunching on an apricot,
Looking like a lovely London lady.
Bully Billy Ballantine wants to be her valentine,
But Lucy loves the goodly Graham Grady.
Categories:
ballantine, children, love, people,
Form: Alliteration