In observance of Veterans Day, please allow me to share a poem I wrote for a friend when she lost her father a couple of years ago. He was a a fine man and a WWII vet.
SWEET MEMORIES OF MR. BRADY
The long, majestic, vibrant row of peonies in his side yard
which nearly sang every year to welcome spring unto Maple Ave…
The abandoned kitten found in a tree near his sidewalk,
which a neighbor rescued and promptly named “Mr. Brady”…
The whispers that he carved a simple decoy long ago
and placed it on the roof of his shed, and wondering was it so,
and if it was, how long he might have left it there…
The corner diner where he met the boys for coffee every morning,
a picture worth a thousand words, with very few said…
The man who raised a little girl
who would become my very dear life-long friend…
The all knowing phrase he quipped when pondering things, “that’s life”…
The many years of his familiar and reassuring gentlemans’ hat
seen from afar and knowing, yes, it would be him,
and that all things were as they should be…
Farewell friend, you set a fine example of how to live a beautiful life,
we’ll miss you…
Maple Ave. won’t be the same without you and your gentlemans’ hat…
Sue I loved your sweet poem. My father was a WWII veteran and he also always wore a hat. While reading your poem, I could see in my minds eye, my father and I thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteLove, Barbara
What a sweet tribute!
ReplyDeleteYour friend's father sounds like such a special man, Sue... And I especially love the title because the street I grew up on was also Maple Avenue. I suppose there is one in almost every town!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tribute!
ReplyDelete