So many reminders today
and every day.
A history book, a picture
or conversation with a friend.
All those opportunities missed
and not another chance.
Looking as old and wise
as a biblical prophet, there sat my grandpa.
His throne was a canvas-bottom lawn chair.
He read Gone With The Wind
as I mowed his lawn.
Right to left
and then up and down.
To earn the quarter,
the cutting had to be his kind of perfect.
As soon as I was finished,
I was off on my bike
to the Shell station on Main street
to take a cold Delaware Punch
out of the ice chest.
A nickel well-earned
and well-spent.
A wonderful storyteller was left,
sitting on that canvas chair.
He had finished checking the accuracy
of Gone With The Wind.
The characters were not unlike
the folks he knew
who saw Atlanta burned.
And so many other stories untold.
Coming from Illinois
in a covered wagon.
Taking a detour of 800 miles
to hunt buffalo.
Seeing Mother Jones during the
Ludlow mine wars.
A Delaware Punch
instead of a story for the ages.
Regrets sometimes grow as they age.
This one has.
Now my stories are more boring
than dance lessons,
jobs or journeys to other lands.
All better reasons
to miss story time
than a Delaware Punch.
Perhaps there will be no regrets
as my computer will store
all the stories I have and more.
When old enough to regret,
no reason to.
Just turn, or tune in,
and there will be a tale of me.
Doug Minnis
October 19, 2009