Doctor Grandma

No one knows the memories

you carry in your heart,

over 60 years of them,

never apart,

your love starting fresh

on a country road

as a serviceman offered you a ride,

letters written during WWII

promises made and kept,

He came to see you before his mother

a new life begun together,

the birth of 6 children,

too many grandkids to count,

weddings and holiday gatherings,

Bodies turning old

but spirit the same,

you shared this journey together,

no one knows the memories,

but we see them in teardrops falling.

cfblack  10-22-2017

Death is not pretty,

It is not meant to be,

The body decomposes

naturally,

The process begins

before we are gone,

We stop nourishing it

before we go home,

Loved ones surround us

at our bedside,

There is no hiding

what is happening inside,

Skin wrinkles and withers

face sunken and hollow,

We are giving up this life

and leaving tomorrow,

Death is not pretty

and so we see,

what is left is the shell

where our soul used to be,

As the process unfolds

we leave body behind,

The spirit is freed!

because our God is kind,

So don’t worry for me

as I leave you here,

for my spirit is soaring

to other spheres,

You will see me again

in a very short time,

We are always, forever,

united as one.

cfblack  10-22-2017 

After tonight,

you will visit him

in your dreams at night,

You will see his smile,

and think of him,

hear his voice and laughter,

Connected throughout the realms of God,

disconnected from time and space,

His presence will be with you there,

and also in your prayers.

We wish we could do it all again,

be a better daughter or son,

No matter how long our time has been,

the pain is still acute,

Years and years of parenting

now coming to a close,

memories flood back to us

like the sweet smell of a rose,

So rest, my dear, his time is come,

You need your sleep as well,

For you are destined to be with me

for a little while here on Earth,

A generation passes on

from this world to the next,

Rest, and hear his voice again,

for he is with you still.

cfblack  10-21-2017

I must write about you

for the next generation,

and the next, and the next,

for they will not have the good fortune

to have known you in this life.

I may write about how

you found your wife,

walking on a road near Mascoutah,

You talked, and I think offered her a ride,

you, a serviceman stationed there,

and you and her made plans

for a life full of love,

for a home full of kids,

and after you returned from overseas,

that is exactly what you did together.

Your mother was mad

you went to see your future wife

before you went to see her,

and so it goes.

I will write about your politics

and how it took me

at least 5 years

of sitting in your living room

to get used to the constant opinionated challenges

being thrown about

to realize

it didn’t matter if I disagreed with your view

as long as I spoke my mind.

All opinions respected

but you had to have a brain

and be willing to banter back and forth.

I could write

about how you cried

at the slightest things

in your later years,

emotional in your 90s,

well it’s about time, old man.

I will have to write

about how you voted

for the first Black President in America

because the party you were loyal to

disappointed and betrayed you,

that party didn’t give you

all your due

in your later years of life.

Oh my God, how we will miss you,

how we will hold you in our hearts!

You stubborn soul, still, you supported us

and loved to have family around,

We were always welcome

at your table

or to sit in your living room,

ALL the TIMES we played euchre

in the kitchen,

ALL the JOYS of this life

and its cares,

We cannot imagine life without you,

We cannot believe you won’t be there.

We are happy for you in your journey

to leave us and move on to there,

All roads lead us to one another,

All paths will bring us together.