Have you experienced any of these "Love. Trauma. Grief. Eternity." Please accept one upon this read?
All comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks, Thomas Bri
This is long, but fiction based on much truth.
__________________________________________________________________________
Love. Trauma. Grief. Eternity.
If there is one thing I've learned of life
Every action causes another reaction
Even in love, life and death; cause and affect
One hopes the result is a good one, but often not
For me, I now know how I shall leave this earth
For my sweet, it was cruelly snatched from us both
I went fishing in Canada three times per year, yep
Once with my colleagues in the medical field, yep
Again with my sons; who learned to become men, yep
The trip I treasured most was with their Mother..oooo
My wife, my love, whose lips have never retreated
If only I could turn back the clock of time, If..only
In the middle of no where on Crooked Lake, peaceful
Woke to my love, had breakfast, now time to go fish
Supplies, tackle, in the boat all set, forgot to gas up
As I am pouring gas in motor, out of nowhere: BEAR
We were not on an island, but peninsula, forevermore
A mistake and thought that will never leave my mind
Bear sniffs extinguished fire, no food; tramples to us
Twenty years of roughing it, this has never happened
Reacting in fear,wife stands up, leaps on me; not now
I grasp oar and pushed off land, gloppen we capsized
Supplies floating, clutched rope to bow of steel canoe
“Climb on top of the hull” I screamed to her, “Now”
Rope now taut, I swim toward closest island, geese Lord
She looks back and screams in horror as Bear swims
“Look at me and focus” -- “please pray for me love”
Swimming desperately, I could not get far enough away
In shear horror I see the Bear climb the boats stern
“NO!” I yell trying to distract, I saw oar floating
Grasp oar, treading water flail away, hitting Bear
Bear roars in anger, oar does nothing but provoke to..
Then the unimaginable
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
I cannot write any longer of this, I thought I could, I can't
I lost my wife that day. We barely got off shore, I messed up
Failed her, completely. In process of trying to save her life
I took a swipe in my left arm that required over 200 stitches
Numerous areas from the Bears paw, I would accept more, if only
Why could it not have been me and not my partner of 26 years
The closest island was a quarter mile away, and I got there
I saw the Bear drag her back to shore, never felt more hopeless
How can I fight a Bear off, and how can I live anymore?
Only months later I got the answer, finally, in the form of a cough
Visiting three sons at two Texas universities and one medical school
The cough persisted and worsened each day, hacking up bad stuff
Saw doctor upon returning to Illinois, and he was astonished at test
“Stage four lung cancer, and you only now experienced symptoms?”
He was a friend, fellow surgeon and fisherman; we discussed possibilities
“Jack, it must be the trauma from Bear attack on your wife in Canada"
I took no solace in this and was ready to go and be with her forever
However, I had six sons, and I loved them with all my heart; so I live
Had surgery; removed half my lung, semi recovered, even played tennis
Recovery was short; the extra time with the Nightwatch was worth it
Worth every single breath of life the good Lord gave me, until the end
Goodbye my sweet, strong and faithful sons, I will miss each one of you
Hello my Lord Jesus, and hello my precious love; I have missed you so
Eternity
___________________________________________________________
For external reasons I must head this off now. I will leave this up, but have to be clear. I wrote this in the perspective of my Dad. All of this is true insofar as the facts except my Mom's death by the Bear. They got away and made it to the island as the bear retreated back to shore. There are personal reasons I wrote this that are more about Mom and Dad and their love for each other that I need to keep personal. I do not want anyone thinking I am the person with cancer. I prefaced poem by saying, as I do all my poems that are like this, poem is fiction based on fact. Sorry folks. Thomas
Also need to be clear: my poems are never meant to deceive anyone about who I am. I don't do that kind of stuff. I make it clear if it is a story poem that what you read there is truth too, but my main point of poetry is the passion in writing a poem and it taking you, the reader, to another place, that is it. thanks, Thomas
__________________________________________________________________
Time to close--this has run it's course. Thanks for all answers and stars folks. You're the best. Thomas