Peaches

His liver like a lace doily alcohol pickled him thin He'd been turned down, all over town no one ever took him in

There was an old man, I once knew

Peaches was the name he used

He was the drunk, set on our trunk

his body old and abused

 Sharing his beer with an old horse

who caroused in the end stall

Each day by three, they'd walk by me

and stumble but never fall

 

His liver was a lace doily

alcohol pickled him thin

He'd been turned down, all over town

no one ever took him in

He drank his beer with ole Nellie

she could tip a bottle too

Swig and sway,  like Don Quixote

as they staggered, swirling, brew

 

We were headed for the races

this blustery afternoon

Each planned the trip, we had to ship

I knew we'd be leaving soon

From where we trained at the fairground

we carted them to the track

Where all would race, and take what place

each earned in front or in back

 

Peaches rode in back of the truck

so he could drink the whole way

My uncle said, he'd soon be dead

drinking had seen his decay

We sat apart from others there

he and I were best of pals

He'd tell me tales, of life’s travails

while I ogled all the gals

 

That day he shared a sordid tale

of pain he caused his own son

He had shouldered blame, bore the shame

for this thing that he had done

Back when he was just a young man

a pillar of support

He took his boy, his life’s great joy

to play their favorite sport

 

They went to a picnic that day

he had drank one too many

On the way, to watch his son play

of fears he hadn't any

His boy was riding in the back

not thinking they skipped the seat belt

He'd rolled his car, the door ajar

surprise was all he had felt

 

His boy was tossed out in a field

sweet clover of timothy

The child's light hair, seen lying there

 remembered so vividly

"I was a Veterinarian"

said Peaches to my surprise

"I went insane, called out in vain

but God never heard my cries"

 

"So now I ride where I belong

In back of my self-made bar

Hoping he, will come to take me

by tossing me from the car"

 Just then a tear fell from his cheek

the pain enveloped me too

Here cried a man, much deeper than

any of us ever knew

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Author's Note

Who can truly say that only they know the heart of another soul? The sad truth of this is that it is a true telling of an actual event.The people I met through the years engrained their stories in my mind. Where I wrote them down and stored them. All I met there were at odds with life. So I suppose judge not lest you be judged. With Peaches I realized his fascination with me was partly my youth and part my resemblance to the treasure he had lost. May he find peace in his afterlife so denied him in life.

Reviews

[Kristallo]

"Here cried a man, much deeper than
any of us ever knew" This has a wonderful message, it reminds me so much of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" where Adriana says (one of my favorite Shakesperian quotes"

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
But were we burdened with like weight of pain,
As much or more would we ourselves complain

This man deeply lamented a horror from his past, and in consuming guilt, he consumed alcohol to assuage his inner torment- and others throughout the town would never bother to guess his reasons for being a drunk, it's easier and more fun to just mock him for his weaknesses. Society is a vicious thing. I really enjoyed reading this, Tate, it's very well written and such a strong piece. Glad I happened upon your writings tonight! Great work.

[Valentine]

Wow..you are getting better all of he time..I loved this..it goes into my favorites ..It is true..we never know what is in the heart of a person..unless they open up like Peaches did..He rode in back because he wanted to die from his guilet..Great one Tate..love Katihe

[gombeggar]

rings of the beats and woody guthrie, arlo too and steinbeck just a touch...nice

[Penlady]

The scheme of things evades me. It takes deep concentration on my part to decipher rhymes and lines and syllable. You and David Lewis Paget are the kings of the meter and have perfected it. However, this poem "Peaches," tells the story of a friend I had and loved dearly. The lace liver is a phrase you have coined and is a situation that is mourned in people who have no self worth. Bobby never harmed anybody but himself in comparison to your Peaches but both stories will always make me cry when I hear them again.Your writing is tender and touching as always and the music always digs into me for that llast little bit of emotion.

[Cole Hayley]

Very well written Tate. Storytelling through a classic scheme. The line that really got me and drove it home was this one.


Just then a tear rolled from his cheek
the pain enveloped me too
Here cried a man, much deeper than
any of us ever knew

[J. J. Nightingale]

We that reach .. and dare to touch another, are sometimes blessed with the knowing .. sympathy is one thing, but true empathy is a gift , Judge Not Lest Ye be Judged , the verse you sited , was lived out so often in My Nursing Years .. ..
I like the message of your story .. A heart is a wonderful thing to share ..

Jasmine .. http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/FLEX/946236/

[Shimmerbliss/CAF]

This is so good, Tate. You obviously are finding a voice for some very moving life stories in the "Paget Meter". I love the narratives you have done, and this one is soulful and meaningful, too.

[realmwriter]

This is certainly a sad tale of a man drinking himself into oblivion, as I would also do If I had suffered what he went through. I am certain that he blames himself as I would also had I forgotten to buckle te safty belt around my child. But alas he should take comfort in knowing that his son is in a better place. Or at least that is where we would all wish him to be.

This rhyme scheme works well for poetry that tells a story such as this. It flows very nicely and makes the whole of the story that much more easy to understand and grasp in a sentimental way.

I though it at first a story of a day at the races and perhaps in a small way it is but it is certainly a story of the man and what I am sure is his emence pain and suffering. I do believe that is relayed through the amount to which he sets himself to drink.

I think you have certainly done justice to David Lewis Pagets' meter. And I would think him honored by it indeed.

While I wish I had a poem that was written in this same meter, or at least something close, I am affraid that I have nothing that can compare to it.
But I will send you something

[Patricia B. Hepler]

...'Just then a tear rolled from his cheek
the pain enveloped me too
Here cried a man, much deeper than
any of us ever knew...'

The pain of a parent when faced with the death of their own child is all-consuming, a forced lifetime of searing pain. How they learn coping mechanisms is not for others to judge~

I know little of formal styles of poetry; quatrains, syllable counts & the like, yet I love your style called the 'Paget Meter', for this music sings to us all~ especially this one...

[Samuel Dickens]

A great story about this man. None of us really know what may be in a person's heart, and sometimes we're suprised to find out. "Liver like a lace doily"--I like that. Some of my relatives have those.