My Mother’s Father

 

“Barber Shop” by Robert Cottingham

(Regarding Niccolò DeTore)

bay rum barber poet
stropped razors and verse
white handlebar mustache
handsomely lifted his smile
Neapolitan gold in his eyes
bootstrap pride in his step
classic rhetoric served at
each meal from his dapper
silk tie and trim waistcoat
surveying his long kitchen
table where thirteen young
minds learned their everlast
lessons of life in America
steeped in his practicum
lovingly eagerly wrapped
in his keen gentle wisdom

 

 

From my book Bohemian Scents

Hard Lessons

Painting by Jim Dine

 

mistakes of the heart

when love takes more than it gives

teachable moments

Glassworks

“Glassblower” by Gudrun Alvebro

 

mutation of sand

transformation

by furious

purgative fire

eradicates traces

the granular

moral impurities

rids the regrettable

footprints that

told all the world

of past journeys

ill taken and now

best forgotten

while leaving

in place of

lamentable days

a new sparkling

clean vessel of

crystalline clarity

formed to receive

and display

those tomorrows

that promise to bear

lessons learned

with a fresh

sense of pride

Olympians

“Olympic Track” by LeRoy Neiman

the best of us

bodies and minds

strong and supple

unbowed and unjaded

engaged in clean

noble contention

fierce beauty

in ballet of battles

adhering to principles

laid down by wisdom

of ancient democracy

ideals of honor integrity

fairness and fortitude

splendid bold lessons

from striven arenas

that carry from youth

to maturity lessons

that translate to life

oh the prize of the laurel

to decorate long

well-lived days

lasting symbol

of virtue defining

the best of us

My Mother’s Father

“Barber Shop” by Robert Cottingham

(Remembering Grandpa Niccolò DeTore)

bay rum barber poet
stropped razors and verse
white handlebar mustache
handsomely lifted his smile
Neapolitan gold in his eyes
bootstrap pride in his step
classic rhetoric served at
each meal from his dapper
silk tie and trim waistcoat
surveying his long kitchen
table where thirteen young
minds learned their everlast
lessons of life in America
steeped in his practicum
lovingly eagerly wrapped
in his keen gentle wisdom

Maturity

“Hard Working Man”
Painting by Vincent Van Gogh

I have no scars from my childhood
all my wounds came later in life

still young enough to remember
lessons learned from my parents

while old enough to regret
all the times I ignored them

ready finally to change
to become the man

mama and papa could see
from the distance of time

Challenger

Challenger Disaster
Photo by NASA
From nationalgeographic.org

remember the rocket
nine miles seven lives
in a race from the face
of their earthly creation
those terrible plumes
uncertain of origins
stark pretty horror
desperate white fingers
scrabbling at sky
turning thrills into
shudders of realization
curl destiny downward
draw preludes to grief

the best minds who
admired vast visions
missed noticing
least deadly details
of intricate
cause and effect
such are flaws
that afflict and impinge
on our human intelligence
grown beyond scale
of small perils
possessing the powers
of terrible tragedy

Inheritance

“Environment Painting 1”
Painting by kuroso
From deviantart.com

land is legacy
left by the life of the wind
by the forces of nature
heirlooms of soil and stone
standing timberlands
cool running creeks at their feet
mountains valleys and meadows
the deserts and tundra
the seabed and river-course
heaving with essence
of serum that animates life

these are gifts
the substantial bequests
from the passing of eons
through fabricant fingers
and generous motives
of sternly affectionate earth
terrains ever aging and changing
and teaching of challenge
which heritor creatures
possess heart sufficiently
apt for the learning

Parables

Aesop
Painting by Diego Velasquez
From oel-bild.de

fables suggest a morality
one that can’t be sustained
without constant reminders
if not for ourselves for the
subsequent good of our species
tales told by oral tradition
link fathers to sons through
exemplars small heroes who
navigate mundane vicissitudes
drawing the ethical paths
around easy temptations
frankly graphic to illustrate
need for responsible choices
when building a life in the care
of a comfortable conscience

Shipwrecks

“SS Austria Shipwreck”
Lithograph from Wikipedia.org

boneyards burn in the brine
deep in dark caustic waters
failed voyages marking
frail parchments of history

drowned men’s ambitions
bleed into tides bathing
beaches with menacing
blooms of lost lessons