Ole McGarty "In Honor of Gentleman Jim"

"You know boys" he would always say "why if there's one thing I am not" "Attention grabbing back stabbing" "but I've won every fight I've fought"

Jim McGarty 84 yrs old Picture from 1985 Quad City Downs.

McGarty twisting a new tale

his feet on the pot belly stove

There in the barn, he'd spin a yarn

piling on like a treasure trove

"You know I don't think I told you

how I won the second World War

Ole Ike, needed help with the Reich

and he looked to me and the corps"

 

"Now the country had called on me

Ike wanted us to break the line

So I told Dwight, schedule a flight

just drop us this side of the Rhine

Then my men and I took the field

laying waste such a German swath

Led all the men, yep there and then

survived only on bread and broth"

 

"Well we sought no recognition

I let Ike spin his fairy tale

We were fine, drinking Hitler’s wine

just happy to blaze the trail"

Jim had a weakness for the blondes

touting one on each of his arms

"Easy to see, why they like me

they're after me lucky charms"

He had claimed many a patent

while inventing all the great things

Held universities, degrees

knew all the heads of states and kings

Jim served in World War One and Two

circumnavigated the globe

Hung out on the Nile, for awhile

invented Nasa's first space probe

 

 

"You know boys" he would always say

"there are a couple things I'm not

Attention grabbing, back stabbing

though I've won every fight I've fought"

When the iced wind blew through the trees

we would gather ourselves around

That smiling face, McGarty’s place

where he entertained half the town

Author's Note

Gentleman Jim:Teller of tall tales and whimsical dreams. He was the epitome of our childish inner selves.Take a bow McGarty. You were one of a kind and the worlds greatest storyteller.

Reviews

[poeticpiers]

I met him in malaya. I think everybody knows an ole farley. Tate but your portrayal brings him to life.Great picture too

[EMF]

A marvelous shaggy dog story, and we all know the guy. The world would be so worse without him. Wonderful Tate. The best part of today so far.

[Rtrt]

Great job Tate. I love people like this, stories or not they know how to entertain us. Their stories are no different then Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". They told us, and tell us, stories that enlighten our perspective.

[Kenneth The Poet]

This is absolutely brilliant.

[Kaa Na Kalyanasundaram]

The emotional lines are telling good story. I like your writings. All your poems are telling great words for peaceful life. My best wishes always.

[Tomi]

This is brilliant in every way, I love how you tell a beautiful story in few lines of poetry, what a guy he must have been :)... quite emotional as well, I loved it... Thank you for sharing :) i absolutely love that song! thank you for that aswell

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Hi Tate, Loved it. You are the technical poet me the emotional one! This is a great story and more so in that he was a real character. The poem meters well so the flow is great and it is easy to read. It is hard to express a story that give character in a poem but you have done it so well. The picture helps. The music I LOVE as i am a big JT fan as I said previously and this is one of my favourite songs. I do have to turn it off while reading but listem while typing.

[Michael Bujtas]

This makes me miss my grandfather and his old stories he used to tell us, including the time one of his friends accidentally punched a nun. A great story and poem.

[SoulCrusader (Yas)]

Great lovely piece....
and great musical acoompaniment too :)