it was the year of the pop song according to the boys named after rapid eye movement,
or thereabouts, dates aren’t that important anyway,
the imprint of the twenty-third letter in the arid field was probably there years before and still is there all these years later,
twenty-three in fact,
give or take,
again dates aren’t that important,
either way, the man that this man doesn’t always see eye to eye with left a positive imprint upon him,
he is the model of excellent fatherhood after all,
he was, and still is, a duck in that lived in the numbers of the form twice a value added to one where the value is any value,
he has a cowboy hat with a rattlesnake skin just above the rim,
he killed it and scalped it there sometime before or after the first shrub was elected to the highest office,
but on this day, on our way out to the imprint of the twenty-third letter, we are on the search for a piece of green gold, something this man had never seen before as a child just like the piece of green gold that is caressing his ears now,
they were both obscure then but as a youngster he was standing in the proper location above the green gold, just the fourth track on the green recording that went gold,
father and I don’t always see eye to eye these days, but in those days, he was the hero and they went on weird adventures and this weird adventure was finding the cactus that father wanted to store under green plastic,
oddly enough, the pop bottle that we kept the cactus had a moniker of a massive mountain who‘s shadow we lived, one that housed and still houses the first-alert satellite facility, the one that warned the missileers in this part of the world that the end of humankind was at hand,
and the other funny thing, it wasn’t the exact cactus that dad had found but a lucky accident that I came across in those formative days,
we found that sometime later,
dad marked it with an orange pole, an orange flag calling out a warning in the style a band of male demons would appreciate,
to this day, it was locked away in a mental file of the positives that we never bring up because the negatives always leave the longer lasting scars,
but, in those days, the father, as odd a duck as he was, was the model of positive experience and hero worship,
and a model of mental acuity that must have been passed on to his oldest progeny,
the highway that runs between the army base and the overbearing mountain is numbered as a multiple of twenty-three, and the other factor is the sum of two and three,
he truly gave and I truly took,
in the year of the pop song, he was the age that this poet is now and now they are closer than ever, because who else is going to give him fatherly advice when the mouse reaches certain milestones in her life,
this poet is green, wet behind the ears on the parenting front, and the father gave him a golden existence,
and maybe the ditch, the strange shape in the field next to the housing complex, actually stands for the word wonderful,
whatever the truth may be, the connections came together all over again
I lived on an army base on the Front Range at the conclusion of the Reagan administration and into the Bush I administration. Dad was a captain doing what he loved at the time. He was and still is an excellent father. This poem was inspired by childhood memories of location, his love and the music of the day. After reading a piece by the one in the dedication, the memories of that year flooded back. This is one of my typical free-verse pieces in my typical voice. Hope you enjoy it.
My Review
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... i spent my childhood in a military base too... my father was in the indian air force... i love how you've brought out the texture of that life... with its multiple hues... one knows one is there for a purpose that one can't comprehend... and yet... childhood unravels... with all the adventures... complexities... joys... this was quite a journey that triggered a million memories... life right now is very, very different... but i do know that my childhood lives within me... immortal as ever... like you said...
whatever the truth may be,
the connections came together
all over again
Posted 12 Years Ago
1 of 1 people found this review constructive.
12 Years Ago
Thanks, Serah. I am glad to have you review this. I have missed your valuable input.
12 Years Ago
... i'm glad i've reconnected with your universe of verse... i haven't spent my time wisely since qu.. read more... i'm glad i've reconnected with your universe of verse... i haven't spent my time wisely since quite some time... will do so now... thank you for writing this piece... i can suddenly hear migs from my childhood... and am reminded of tea gardens covered with fireflies in the evenings... and the crazy elephant who once decided to make the runway his ramp... and... and... and... and... :)
12 Years Ago
The night I wrote this brought back a flood of memories for me about my childhood there. Everything .. read moreThe night I wrote this brought back a flood of memories for me about my childhood there. Everything coalesced again so well and I think that's a sign that I should write a piece. Thank you.
... my mind is buzzing with memories since i read this piece... i might end up writing something too.. read more... my mind is buzzing with memories since i read this piece... i might end up writing something too...
'and maybe the ditch, the strange shape ~ in the field next to the housing complex, ~ actually stands for the word wonderful,
whatever the truth may be, ~ the connections came together ~ all over again'
Is it true that we grow into our childhood as we age?
Enjoyed it very much, thank you! This is a new wander for me, catching memories i've not shared before, glimpsing your youth, your father, a life in history, lessons learned, music and all. Your free verse near but gently catapults this reader into another place. By its end i see the boy in the man.. i think!
Posted 12 Years Ago
12 Years Ago
Thank you so much, Emma Joy, for that review. I appreciate it.
Thank you for sharing this part of you with all of us.. the places, the situations and the music makes it all come alive for your readers.. xo excellent ink..xo :)
I enjoy it.
I have not much words to express my love for it,it is so much self-expanatory.
Reviews are also very illuminating .
Embedding a popular song.Hope you will like it.
Embedding was not successful.So link has been given below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?featur.. read moreEmbedding was not successful.So link has been given below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rId95N2teUc
... i spent my childhood in a military base too... my father was in the indian air force... i love how you've brought out the texture of that life... with its multiple hues... one knows one is there for a purpose that one can't comprehend... and yet... childhood unravels... with all the adventures... complexities... joys... this was quite a journey that triggered a million memories... life right now is very, very different... but i do know that my childhood lives within me... immortal as ever... like you said...
whatever the truth may be,
the connections came together
all over again
Posted 12 Years Ago
1 of 1 people found this review constructive.
12 Years Ago
Thanks, Serah. I am glad to have you review this. I have missed your valuable input.
12 Years Ago
... i'm glad i've reconnected with your universe of verse... i haven't spent my time wisely since qu.. read more... i'm glad i've reconnected with your universe of verse... i haven't spent my time wisely since quite some time... will do so now... thank you for writing this piece... i can suddenly hear migs from my childhood... and am reminded of tea gardens covered with fireflies in the evenings... and the crazy elephant who once decided to make the runway his ramp... and... and... and... and... :)
12 Years Ago
The night I wrote this brought back a flood of memories for me about my childhood there. Everything .. read moreThe night I wrote this brought back a flood of memories for me about my childhood there. Everything coalesced again so well and I think that's a sign that I should write a piece. Thank you.
... my mind is buzzing with memories since i read this piece... i might end up writing something too.. read more... my mind is buzzing with memories since i read this piece... i might end up writing something too...
this poet is green, wet behind the
ears on the parenting front, and the
father gave him a golden existence,
I love that part, and that's what makes poetry so freaking awesome. Not only do you get to share what "moves" you as a writer. But the reader gets to embark on your journey. Wonderful story! Thank you for sharing....
Muse
Posted 12 Years Ago
12 Years Ago
Thanks so much, Muse. I think this may be the best work I've written thus far.
...if I wrote a poem about my childhood...it would not be so pretty. You are lucky to have a Father.. read more...if I wrote a poem about my childhood...it would not be so pretty. You are lucky to have a Father that you grew up admiring.
Thank you. I saw your poem about how you compared yourself from 1989 to now and I was deeply inspire.. read moreThank you. I saw your poem about how you compared yourself from 1989 to now and I was deeply inspired. I was living in Colorado then and I remembered how happy that time in my childhood was. Thank you again for that.
Kenneth The Poet is an optimist wrapped in the candy shell of moroseness and cynicism. He lives between the two parallels marked 46 and 49, all while living in the state marked 39. He pretends that he.. more..