Contributor Posts

I was playing adult soccer at a
field off Delridge Way, in Seattle.
The ball came to me,
I raised my leg,
dropping my toe.
I was hit from behind,
by who? I don't know.
My leg was now up in the air,
falling to earth,
I put out my arm.
Wrong move, I meant
for I hit the ground
fracturing my wrist.
Went to the Dr the next day.
He put on a cast.
After 2 weeks
of itching,
and trying to scratch,
I removed it with a hacksaw blade.
I would wrap it with an Ace bandage,
tight as I could.
Removed it at night
so I could sleep good.

I walk this road alone,
in my reverie.
Pondering what life
will be,
when you are no longer
by my side.
If that happens
we will decide,
if you stay here with me
or to deride,
my simplistic view
of life.
You are my ever
beautiful wife.

The life in her eyes
faded and dim,
tells me the story of what
happened to him.
A long lost love of
so many years ago,
that she misses now,
waiting to go.
Missing the boy who
stole her heart.
He left her there
many miles apart.
A childhood love, gone
from her door.
He no longer visits here,
not anymore.
Nothing left for her
to see,
just an image of him
as a memory.

The Rooster was a Red,
of that I am sure.
What happened next,
I had to endure.
A rural scene, out in our yard,
I was just playing around,
when I heard a noise;
a loud, scary sound.
I turned to look
for what it might be
and saw a Red Rooster
running at me.
I stood up, as quick
as I could, thinking
the Rooster misunderstood.
My mind told me to run,
not just to flee,
for that big Red Rooster,
was coming for me.
I ran to the house
and grabbed a broom
fighting off the impending doom.
I went out to play
on the very next day,
uncertain if the Red Rooster
was far away.

My grandfather would say
on a warm Spring day,
"you can feel the rain
as it is on the way."
I didn't understand then
but I do now,
for from the wind
a coolness could be felt
on the warm Spring day
and soon the rain
was falling in it's way.

Dear God
I pray in the next life
you treat her with care,
for at this moment,
I'm filled with despair,
about the loving God
that hears not, my prayers.
So I'm left to go and shout,
"Why are you doing this to She,
tell me please, this aged lout
for I don't understand, let me see
why She must suffer so,
which hurts her family."

Why must I be the way I am?
Feeling guilt about the days,
when I worked and didn't praise
everything you did at home,
taking care of our children, almost alone.
Now we are here, your mind is spent,
no doing the "books" or cooking now.
Unable to function tasks so simple,
It's "My turn," I've said so many times
"to take care of you" as you did I.

From across the ocean.
it came to be,
the loss of life,
for an eternity.
A virus so bold,
no one could see
the impact on our destiny;
of lives we've lost,
never more to be,
amongst their friends
or their family.

One of the hardest things in
this life, for me to do,
was leave for duty with the US Navy,
and not look back at you.
My defensive move, I'll
swear on this day,
was to keep walking;
not looking your way.
It is strange how certain
things stick in your mind,
when you are leaving
and will be gone for sometime.

There was a time, so many years ago, when a change of careers presented itself.
This change was triggered by a series of events.
I was working for a retail establishment and had accepted a position as Operations
Manager, in Los Angeles. We, my wife and two children were living in Redmond.
The children were in junior high. I would fly to Los Angeles on Monday and return on Friday.
Working in Seattle on the subsequent week and then alternate to Los Angeles, etc.
I began looking for houses and found some very nice places but the commute was an hour in the
morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon, if there were no problems. Well there were
always traffic problems.
I had moved many times, as a child and the one part I envied was not going through the
schools, from grade one, through high school, with the same set of friends.
Based upon the time I would be spending travelling to and from work but more importantly
on not wishing to deprive our children the opportunity to fulfill my desire when in school,
I opted to resign from my position. Now, after this long preamble here is where the Office
comes in.

I was hired by a High Tech company in Bellevue, in the Customer Service Department, believe I
was the 49th employee.
This Company was a pioneer, using Ultrasound Technology, developed by the U of W, to develop
equipment for Cardiology and Neo natal scanning. It was a fast moving Company that
had very little Standard Operating Procedures, in written format.
That was one of my assignments to produce a Return document so the Company could
track all the different equipment units in our Customer's facilities.
The other assignment was to develop a Service Contract that could be sold to
our Customers. I worked with an outside, Law Firm and we developed the "boilerplate"
we needed in the document. It was a success and Service Contract Income became
a great source of revenue for the Company.

After work, many of us would adjourn across the street to an establishment with the
name, "The Office". That was a nice thing as if we arrived home late, we could always
truthfully reply when asked, "Where were you?" Why I was at The Office.

Alone am I now
but then I see
there is someone
here, living with me.
She has no memory
of this life we lived.
A mind that now
without thoughts to give.

I remember lessons
from my old man;
When using a Crescent wrench,
use the palm of your hand,
for when the wrench slips
as it often will do,
you spare barking your knuckles.
Which I have done quite a few
times in this long life.