Gone 41 years ago, today, and the tears are as fresh now as they were then. These are a couple of pieces I wrote years ago.
I sensed that you were nearby
It came by the scent of pipe tobacco
It’s funny, really
One moment I’m working away
The next I feel you near
Some may feel an eerie sense of foreboding
But I only felt safety
I know you’re looking over me
Silently watching me
Smiling as I grow
I know you’re there
I can feel you inside
Calming my emotions
Securing my heart
Against the unknown
Others back me in all trails taken You travel with me
A WORLD OF A GRANDFATHER AND GRANDDAUGHTER
How do you put down on paper what the times meant, when even though you lived them so much more was lived
The jokes, the laughter that only you two knew the meaning of
The words were different but the meaning was all the same
The greetings that only you and he understood
The love so strong that no barrier can or will ever break
You wonder why some others have it different
Then you know he made it different, he was there not just because you wanted it but because he wanted it too
You go not just for him but for you
The tears flow not only for those who didn’t make it but because he did
The man stands so tall, the white hair a little thin the eyes and smile his own
The world between a grandfather and granddaughter can be so different and yet so alike
No words can describe their world for in it no words are needed
Love Dirty Ole’ Meatball
October 7, 1982
To My Pa
Who I dearly love and admire
Every two years
suits are cleaned
dust wiped from medals
Old friends meet once more
Memories remembered
Ones who are gone are
Remembered with tears
No names are forgotten
Not even the one who wasn’t
Your closest friend
Men remember the past
The happiest and the saddest
That was awhile ago
But it is not forgotten
To the men of the
18th Field Company
Royal Canadian Engineers
9th Brigade
The 3rd Canadian
Infantry Div.
June 9, 1979
