End of Days, For my father "Eddie Morgan Jr"

I am my father’s son after all. To my father I raise a glass and say "Goodnight Dad thank you for my life"

My Father Eddie Morgan Jr and I.

My father died 6/15/15

Both the tears that live in sorrows

along with those born from pain

Echo through the lost tomorrows

that will never come again

 

For I had closed my heart away

as to hide behind a door

So the longing I'd kept at bay

would trouble my soul no more

With the storms brought by the spring

came the April winds sublime

The children's happy feet now sing

pitter-patter keeping time

 

I kept the promise to my heart

burning love has kept me warm

I readied for the end in part

with my back turned toward the storm

 

The sun did set upon his chest

as lost, love cried out in me

"Give him life or give him rest"

was the sound of my hearts plea

 

Author's Note

The night comes when there are fewer days ahead than behind. On that night you realize the folly of your misspent youth was really the joy of your life's adventure. To that I raise a glass and say "Hell Yeah he really lived! Goodnight Dad

See my works at www.writerscafe.org/aristate

Reviews

[Mira ThePoetess]

oh Tate that sure is one of the best poems I've read as I love the song as well. Your words as usual penetrate the soul. Life is a journey, and we all may go astray, wandering in roads never taken before, or roads that were taken by others yet they seem so unfamiliar as we don't learn from others' experience all the time .... Lost hopes, sorrows and tears moan inside your heart only to awaken some hunger for a ray of light that would sure give you the rebirth feeling. No matter how long we try to hide from love, it sure finds a way to us, without asking for our permission. The wind, the sun, the spring and the storm ... all those words are only an excellent choice for the flow of your feelings that was easily sensed all along your poem ..... sorry it was too long but it sure hit me hard that one. Loved the photo toooo :D

Mira

[Mira ThePoetess]

I will sure vote for this one as all the rest can't even stand the level of comparison ... you got my vote

[Tate Morgan]

How endearing to read such a devout write on a subject we both share thank you

[Mira ThePoetess]

No need to thank me, what touches the heart is what is based upon sincerity and truthfulness. Excellent ink ...

[Muhammad]

"The sun did set upon his chest
as lost, love cried out in me
'Give him life or give him rest'
was the sound of my hearts plea"

The sun setting with the loss of a loved one is such a pure way to characterize the feeling you felt at the time of this tragedy. However, when losing one of two of the most beloved people in our lives, your choice to use the setting of the sun "on his chest," is masterful.

The last stanza should always deliver a blow to the reader, especially when it comes to topics as heavy as this; and boy did this do so.

Outstanding work.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Muhammad I suppose as with many children my father and I had a contentious existence. But in the end we both realize it was all part of nature and growing up

[M. J. Smith]

I never had the privilege of having a dad. Mama was a single parent. Beautiful words to the man who clearly meant so much to you. He would be proud.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you my father was not a great man. But he was all I had. We didn’t always see eye to eye quite often we didn’t see anything the same But it hurt when he died as it should

[Robert Trakofler]

You have an old school voice with an immersive rhyme and rhythm structure that unfolds intimately. Im new to your writing but your writing strikes me as a channel of old English poets in a new world voice and sentiment. The structure of successive 8-6 lines always puts a punch to the last words of a stanza especially when rhymed so fluently (no sense of forcing) when you take that structure and place those sentiments to them it is sublime beauty in write and that what you just did to this bunny's ears

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Robert. Yeah I sometimes seem to use a little influence from archaic language. As a whole I believe that simpler is always better. Simpler language and simple truth. Maybe because I am generally from a simple life.

[Ted Kniffen]

Thanks for this, Tate. My Dad passed in 1964 and reading this brought tears to my eyes as the memories came back. Our neighbours, much like your dad were sulky racers, so the photo meant something as well.
So, let's raise that glass and toast all dads for who and what they were.

A good write.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you TED I suppose one has to experience it to understand it. I raise the glass with you to fathers and sons

[Amanda Trerotola]

A beautiful way to honor your father.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Amanda judging bu uour assumed age you have s good life live it well

[Chris Shaw]

A heartfelt tribute in memory of your Dad Tate. Very poetically expressed.The years pass by, but they are missed just as much. Pleased to have the opportunity to read this.

Chris

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you. We all feel a little tinge of sorrow with their passing along with that feeling We are one step closer to the river STYX

[Chris Shaw]

Yes, it brings the inevitable closer to us.

[Winslow Des Totes]

Absolutely brilliant. Every line succinct and poignant; every stanza it's own truth. Into my favorites it goes and well deserved-forsooth. ;) As always amazing work Tate! It's funny I'm often too busy with work to go on this site anymore but when I do I always turn to your work first because I know that I will find great quality and inspiration in it and for that I am very grateful. Thank you for always being you and for all the beauty and character that you commit to words.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Winslow. I write with feelings on the outside never tempered by whether its right or wrong. Simply put I try to make others feel what i felt when I wrote it

[Great Aunt Astri]

Beautifully written tribute to your Dad. You say ' I had closed my heart away.' But I bet your Dad knew your love for him. And I bet he loved you dearly. Sometimes love speaks even if it is unspoken.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Astri. My father and i had a checkered relationship. We often didnt agree. But mostly because he feared i would be like him.

[Great Aunt Astri]

Yes. I think quite a lot of parents hope that their children won't be like them! Hence the phrase, 'Do as I say, not as I do'!!!!

[Valentine]

This is really a beautiful write, one of the best I have read lately on this site. Have a super 2017. Valentine

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Kath It is a tribute to the man who made me.

[Valentine]

Tate we are fortunate that we had nice dads to raise us. I still thank God for the years I got to love mine. Kathie

[Tate Morgan]

Mine wasn't nice or kind or gentle but he was
Mine

[Valentine]

I was thinking of all the horse stories you used to write about when we first came on the site. It still is a very nice write. Kathie

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you I kind of miss those days now

[Tomás Ó C..]

Great tribute to your father Tate...

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Thomas I hope I have done him justice I poured his ashes across the race track where his life began and his race ended