It always gets you in the end.
That was what she said concerning his father passing away at the age of 66. It was the ugly truth about life. Nobody escapes death, its methods might change through the years as you age and time matures, but death always catches you in the end.
Those were morbid thoughts going through John's mind as he sat drinking in the bar. His father, John Smith the third, had passed away earlier that day. It was a type of pancreatic cancer. John Smith Jr, did not remember the specific type, but he remembered the doctor saying it was the same kind that got that apple guy, the one that invented ipods and the Mac, in the end. Essentially, his dad had little change of survival. His dad was diagnosed exactly four months before he passed away. Today.
Even though John was nearly 30, no kids, or wife for that matter, he could not keep the tears from his eyes. Something that his dad might have issue with, maybe. It was because he dead. His dad always told him to get up on his feet and not cry, that men don't cry. To keep the tears at bay, John took a drink of his cheap beer. It was in a white mug with multicoloured polkdots, it was an odd bar, but it was the closest one to the hospital. The hospital did not allow alcohol on the premises.
Of the two of them, John was the only one that cried at his mothers funeral. Carcrash, due to driving while intoxicated with her not-so secret lover. Both of them passed away. She was an orphan, and his father's side of the family were not the close kind. So the two of them were the only ones who attended the funeral and the burial. It would be the same now, except it would just be John. His father had no friends or coworkers that would remember him. The steel mill that he used to work for had closed down two years before he retired, he worked at a super market store for those last two years, and then he moved states when he retired, away from his son.
He only contacted John when he was diagnosed, so John rented a short term apartment in the city to help him get his things in order as his father stayed at a hospice care center. Even though it had been three months, John could still remember the disappointment his dad's eyes and face when John told him that he still had no kids and no wife. "So much for keeping the family name alive," he said. He seemed more worried about that than he did about dying. "We work for most of our lives, yet we still have nothing to show for it when death comes knocking. Well, I understand John. I never liked being a father." That was all he said that day. For the next few weeks, his verbiage mostly consisted of that, including his final words.
The polkdot covered mug was empty; John went to have it refilled, for the third time. He was going to die soon to, what did he have to show for it?
I found you
When I was alone and tired
I found you
When I was empty and afraid
I found you
When nothing else mattered
I found you
And the lights shone brighter
I found you
And now I am never alone
I found you
And I prayed for the first time in years
I found you
And I couldn't look away from your smile
I found you
And you found me
Over and Over again
No matter how far I ran
I found you
Beside my car
I found you
In front of my house
I found you
In my room
I found you
And you found me
burned out
eager. excited.
maybe you could even call it bright-eyed for the future.
hungry…
a vision so dense it drowned out all other reality.
never once imagining this narrow sighting was selfishly oblivious,
gullible to all other aspects of life.
a vision so narrowly focused,
it burned,
along with it’s blind spots.
Father’s Day
If I had a dick
I would have made a
great
father
The last you have of me
is pig tailed dna
and that last placenta pill
I kept in y(our) freezer
so sentimental
I never popped it
a red balloon
now I
float
here
alone
when she makes you get rid of it
what metaphorical
life
blood
bleeds out
basking
in the
undead
never said
miscarriage
on the
mattress
you've fucked
the last
ten
on
and happy
day
to the men
I made
fathers
to the bloody mess
we
made
and those
beautiful
babies
I cannot find my father's
phone number
to call
and say
thank you for teaching me how to
dream
I am so sorry
I never learned
how
sans
somnambulance
Samson
Samson stands.
Solid sentry, standing
so Samuel’s citizens sew seeds, socialize,
souls safe.
Samson smiles:
strong, sole, sacrosanct.
Samson’s strength source -
so simple, so secret -
strands -
sable stream.
Samson stands.
Still, strength saps.
Strong, settled, safe…
Souls slip.
Supple, sweet
seraphic slut
spy
slinks so Samson sees.
Smooth skin,
silver sin,
swings self,
slinks so sultry
so Samson sees,
seeks.
Samson slips.
Supine, Samson suckles sin,
suckles sweetness,
solace.
Standing solo,
citizens’ sole strength,
spirit sags.
So Samson seeks:
skin sin
sliding sliding
supple smoothness
sliding sliding
sweat scent
sliding sliding
soft slap
sliding sliding
strain squeeze
sliding sliding
strain scream sigh
satisfy
Samson sleeps.
So sly,
sultry spy,
seeking silver
snips sacred strands;
sable stream, sliced.
Source stopped,
strength sapped,
Samson screams,
stands, staggers.
Spies surround.
Samson sinks,
seized
struck
slaved
Samson snarls, cinched;
sentries scorn.
Samson screams, “slut! serpent!”
Stops.
Stunned, sees.
Sees self:
supercilious
sex-seeking
stupid
Samson sinks,
seared, sorry, small.
Sentries scorn.
Sunken, Samson supplicates.
“Spirit Sire,”
Samson says,
“Samson’s sinful.
Samson’s small.
Sans spirit,
senseless self
signifies…”
sobs
“Samson’s sorry,
Spirit Sire…
sorry.
Samson sees.
Send strength.
Send spirit.
Send…
send Samson.”
Sinews stretch.
Scorning sentries see,
stare.
Strings snap.
Samson stands.