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Daddy
Leo Farley 4-26-17

He sits, legs crossed neatly,
Alone.
As dusk settles over
Another July night.

A cigarette clinched tightly
Between yellow stained fingers.
More bone than skin,
A can of Schlitz
In the other.

The glow of ash at the end of his Pall Mall
Like a firefly aglow,
Then a long exhale.
Expelling smoke that lingers in the air
And dances with the soft summer wind.
Followed by a sip.

Youth long gone,
He sits, quietly, stoically.
His gentle eyes
Tell of worry and strain,
Of unspoken burdens.

Or were there other thoughts
Troubling that mind,
Covered now with thinning white hair
And only a trace of the red,
Reminder of the fire it once held?

I’m sure he was watching me
As I was watching him from afar
As the memory of Daddy
is both vivid and clear,
looking through the lens
of yesteryear.

Voices

5/17/2017
3:53 PM

Leo Farley

5-17-17

Voices from the past
echo in my head
some still here
some gone forever

Happy times
times of tears
times of joy
times of fear

First kiss
being loved
being lost
found again

Looking back
by looking forward
looking ahead
by not looking behind

The battle
of the clock
the unseen enemy
my only foe

Time to write
just in time
peace of mind
just in time.

Flying

5/17/2017
5:27 PM

If I could fly away
from here forever
I probably wouldn’t
Even if I knew
how to grow wings
I would figure out some way
to circumvent their growth.
Flying is for the birds
yet I call myself superior.

Mother’s Day

5/14/2017
9:44 AM

Mother’s Day

Alone
on the subway
Sunday morning
Mother’s day
without you Mom
you are gone but
I am still here
missing you today as
I close my eyes
and see your face
If you can hear me
just wanted to say
I’m sorry Mom
I tried many times
to find my way
I forgot all your
warnings
about pitfalls
and danger
and alcohol
and all, but here
I am today
I can’t let go
Of the bottle
It’s where I
find the courage
to keep riding
to keep moving
to keep running away
from myself
and my life.