Dad…a poem of dedication

 

THE CYCLE CONTINUES

A STORY OF DAD

 

His cleverness of wit and ease with a smile

Gave Charlie a kind and delightful style

Bristled of chin from the graveyard stint

He still made you kiss him on the cheek when he bent

For a long time, he smoked and drank Budweiser too

Wearing old green khakis only plaid shirts would do

Down to the beach for some time to read

A cooler in tote sitting on the backseat

How full were his hands with all of them boys

When he  had a day off he played with them and their toys

The best thing was fishing in fresh water or salt

How he loved being out there whether anything was caught

Knees swollen up with the arthritis therein

The hands had it too when the weather set in

But he didn’t fret much around all us kids

Mom and dad always did what mom and dad always did

We’d go down to Week’s Bay and pull off the road

Walk into the woods and our shotguns we’d load

Dad could sit still a lot longer than us

We’d fidget around with the leaves but not fuss

Cause the love that he had for us boys could make you melt

But if you knowingly crossed the bad line… ‘twas the belt

Not until we had babies of our own

Did we really understand how it felt to be grown

As his daddy did and as he did too

Punishment helped us grow to do what we do

Raising all these kids was hard on ole dad

And we never liked it whenever he got mad

But that wasn’t so often as we thought so when young

Trying hard not to cry and biting our tongue

Mostly the times we had were so great

Dad taught us to catch and to clean what we ate

Then further down the road mom gave him his girl

How proud dad was when mom taught her to twirl

His time on earth shorter than we ever thought fair

But God has his plans so we bow heads in prayer

One day long from now all together we’ll be

Reflecting on life and its deep mystery

And our kids will miss us until we see them again

The cycle continues and will ‘til the end