Big Wes

Seems like the right piece to feature today.

Sometimes I get to talking
And I make that mistake.

Inadvertently, I say "My Dad
Is", or "does", or "has".

In that moment it hits me like
A steel-toed kick to the midsection,
And all of the wind leaves my soul.

That's when I realize all over
Again that you are gone.
That it's "was", or "did", or "had".

Never again will I hear you
So seized with boisterous laughter
That you begin coughing uncontrollably.

No more will your soft, yet jabbing wit
Gently set me on the proper path.

I have to find my own paths now.

Reviews

[DavidRyan]

This is amazingly well written. Sad, beautiful, a great ode to a parent. I use to sit in my house when I was younger, and extremely worry about what was going to happen to me when my parents were dead. How I would be able to set a VCR up without them, wash clothes, pay bills, take care of people I love/d. It's definitely a scary thought but it comes with getting older, I guess. And you hope that you're old enough to choose your own paths, and take care of your own family, and do just as good, if not a better job, than your parents. Like I said, well written. I'm glad I checked it out.

[Neville]

Hey Creepy, my father passed this June & I still feel that steel toed kick like it was yesterday which of course, it almost was. I truely empathise with all of the losses you refer and superbly allude to - I am struggling to find a path that I am able to negotiate without sniffing the air and listening intently for signs of him & very occasionally, I think I detect a little sign of him not being too far away. Having had a rant, I truely enjoyed this work & appreciate your sharing it. All Good Things, neville

[Creepy Swine Guy]

Thank you for visiting and sharing with us what so many seem to feel. I think we'll always pick up the hints of them around us. I think we're walking in their aura.

[LA Lorena]

sending hugs your way today. I have a feeling you need it. (just don't be trying to cop a feel while you're at it) ;) LA

[?]

Nice, Fortunately I still have both my parents. But this made me think of my grandparents, whom I was really close to. Dang it, GH you made me cry.
This was wonderfully written, so sad. And no we will never get to him them laugh or cry or encourage us, but thank God for the memories.

[Tony]

Sounds like my Granddad.
"..soft yet jabbing wit, Gently set me on the proper path.."
and then, then the author honors the subject,
Perfectly in the last line, using the same 'soft jabbing wit'.
Poetry, entonces.

[Doreen]

This is beautiful. They say that our loved ones stay with us in our hearts, which is a comforting thought, but it's not the same as having them by our side to talk to and be with. This is such a fabulous poem. I love this.

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

Oh! with that last line..you let out your tender heart in open for us to see..and also for us to learn.I liked this one a lot..best of poetry comes from the most fragile of sentiments.

[dovetailer]

We certainly miss the ones we love, don't we...when they have moved on beyond our reach....
I had the sense of being a skiff no longer safely ties to the dock...truly alone for the very first time in my life...
Wonderful sentiments wonderfully penned...

[jenniewren (J.W. Bouwma..]

yes.. oh yes. i know this all too well.. as a matter of fact, have written quite a few poems on this subject.

what to do with the habit of a person after the everyday occurance no longer occurs? *sighs*

you've reached into my chest and held my heart with this one

[Ashley.M.E]

this is a great poem, well done.

[just rose.]

I know exactly what this is like, just change the pronoun. I know the shadows along those paths.

I won't give you platitudes about how they're always with you. They are. But they're not. And sometimes I hear a wisp of my mother's voice in my head, twenty five years since it was in the same room as me, and that moment always brings me to my knees and brings me home again.