Ink in the Blood Posts

Kenny Rogers

(Aug. 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020)

“In a bar in Toledo across from the depot

on a bar stool she took off her ring
I thought I’d get closer

so, I walked on over

I sat down and asked her her name
when the drinks finally hit her

she said I’m no quitter

but I finally quit livin’ on dreams
I’m hungry for laughter and here ever after

I’m after whatever the other life brings

in the mirror I saw him, and I closely watched him

I thought how he looked out of place
he came to the woman who sat there beside me

he had a strange look on his face
the big hands were calloused

he looked like a mountain

for a minute I thought I was dead
but he started shaking

his big heart was breaking

he turned to the woman and said,

‘you picked a fine time to leave me Lucille
with four hungry children and a crop in the field
I’ve had some bad times

lived through some sad times

but this time your hurtin’ won’t heal
you picked a fine time to leave me Lucille’

after he left us, I ordered more whiskey

I thought how she’d made him look small
from the lights of the bar room

to a rented hotel room

we walked without talking at all
she was a beauty but when she came to me

she must have thought I’d lost my mind
I couldn’t hold her ’cause the words that he told her

kept coming back

time after time

‘you picked a fine time to leave me

Lucille …’ ”

(Song written by Hal Bynum and Roger Bowling)

In the Spring of the Year

the pace of life

has paused

to preserve its future

not without sorrow

or sacrifice

not even the dead

can die properly

as loved ones grieve

in isolation

there aren’t enough beds

for the sick

for the dying

for the surgeries

planned

or unplanned

nursing home patients

have no hand to hold

already helpless as is

over-crowded prisons

on lockdown

pose health problems

inside and out

homeless on the street

hold up

new cardboard signs

as restaurants they sit near

close

sanitation workers are strung out

this is no Spring cleaning

doctors and nurses

have tears in their eyes

knowing what they know

the military and law enforcement

keep a watchful eye

each day

different

as journalists report the hard facts

the necessities of life

in short supply

production ramped up

world-wide

nobody sleeps

but children

as numbers rise

and fall

maps in the red

more than your own life

at stake

sacrifices great

and small

known and unknown

put in perspective

what is essential

what is non-essential

in times of crisis

humanity is tested

at the core

TL

Grace

the willow strands

almost touched the water

where turtles swim

with fish

each path is dotted

with teeny tiny pastel flowers

the trees are teeming with leaves

as the squirrels scurry to the top

to nest

like birds

that sing their song

not to be heard

but felt

the old man with his cane

is slow

but steady

beneath a canopy

of pale pink blossoms

that fall into the stream

full from drops

warmed by the sun

the ladybugs crawl ruby red

against the concrete

but lift their wings

when they want to fly

maybe not as graceful as a butterfly

or as fast as a hummingbird

or as persistent as a gnat

but they breeze

through the air

and land

like a blink

for the tiny to see

like fireflies

in the dark

TL

Reassurance

as he

rolled his buggy

down the aisle

past row after row after row

of empty shelves

he kept patting

his baby boy

on the leg

telling him

over and over

“it’s gonna be ok …

don’t worry

it’s gonna be ok …

we’re gonna be ok …”

 his baby

wearing his blue footie pajamas

in the early morning hour

just looked up at him

and kept smiling

swinging his footie feet

in the air

TL

Blue Butterfly

Shirley Flora

buzzed around

town

dropping seeds

out her pocket

knowing tomorrow

flowers would grow

in the soil

and someone who needed

a lift

would notice them and smile

she made

Opelika Beautiful

(Oct. 13, 1932 – March 5, 2020)

TL

In the Wind

one must

stay centered

in the smallness

of a moment

TL

“The Way Back”

Dear Dad,

thank you

for saving me

a seat

TL

“And That’s All I Have To Say About That”

a few days ago

was watching

an all-time favorite

Forrest Gump

with its all-time favorite actor

Tom Hanks

and even though I’ve watched it

many times

I feel it every time

the message is timeless

in its truth

the viewer sees the world

through oblivious eyes

like a quiet inside a storm

“i may not be a smart man,

but i know what love is …”

TL

Plan F

it’s good to

have a plan

they teach ya that

early on

have a plan

make a plan

in fact, have at least three

a plan A

a plan B

a plan C

and when i was young

i had a plan

in fact, i had five

plan A

plan B

plan C

plan D

plan E

all of the above

i never factored an F

i didn’t know F

i was used to rising above the situation

however hard

press on

but life has its way with you

finds your weakness

and exploits it

nobody is immune

unexpected factors

can make ya question

all those plans

things ya never foresee

things ya weren’t prepared for

things that change your course

things that change you

that break you

after my father died

sudden

i stopped

making plans

TL

Silent Suffering

what words

are never spoken

loud

that hurting

i first heard

relentless

in the weeping

the baby cried

in a corner crib

where too many

lie

in worthless waiting …

for who

for what

for when

for where

for why

the door opens

the door closes

again and again and again

a thousand times

the opening and closing

of doors

walked through

and away

triggered tears

follow first steps

into tomorrow

if ever left

then you know

leaving never leaves

a body

becoming an expected thing

in the unexpected moment

it lies

quiet

in the corner

waiting …

for who

for what

for when

for where

for why

TL

Dear Dad,

still take walks

by the water

found a new place

reminds me a little

of the park

across the street

we’d walk

not as nice

though

but peaceful

the geese are at home

here

they look like swans

on water

just as serene

as they glide by

they won’t be here forever

one day

they’ll fly in formation

to some other somewhere

but not today

today they’re here

with me

TL

Passage

the

r

o

a

d

gobbles up spools

of white thread

sewn down the center seam

and spits it out

in patches

quilted over

yards of green

TL

Marshall Mathers

last night

had a crazy dream

that I was sitting there

by myself

watching the Oscars

waiting for Rene

and I heard a familiar beat

when they showed a clip of 8-Mile

‘bout how music and movies can be magic

and then there he is

in the flesh

rising from the floor

bobbing to the beat

rapping what he wrote

what he won an Oscar for …

“Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity

to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment

would you capture it, or just let it slip?

Yo …”

TL

When it Rains

small me

would watch

t

h

e

r

a

i

n

f

a

l

l

i

n

g

and think

God is sad

TL

Just Away

in the quiet

i can hear the wind

brush against the clouds

brown blades turning green

seaweed in the sea

the tumbling of stones

in a river

weeping white butterflies

touch the face

of flowers

dancing in the wheat

the rain drops

down

gentle at first

before it floods

the street

and drowns the dream

underwater

it breathes

bending beams

in waves

nothing is hard

tears in water

never fall

TL

“Flowers for Algernon”

this was

required reading

that required writing

that required thinking

the tears were optional

it was one of those books early on

that stayed with you

all the way through

now my middle-school daughter

has it in her backpack

required to read it

required to write about it

required to think about it

the tears were optional

TL

To The Light

we do not

ask

to be born

none of us

do

and we that are

here

find out early

enough

that here

is no home

yet we stay

for a time

learning and re-learning

how to survive

and somewhere

in it

we learn

why we are here

not in function or form

process or purpose

but a matter

of depth

without measure or mile

for love is our lesson

for rich or for poor

not of the five senses

or the steps of becoming

well-traveled, rehearsed

in a life

full of distraction

there is this certainty

we carry inside

for if you have loved

like there was no love

in the world

and it broke you open

by its volume and weight

leaving particles of dust

in the air

then you know why

why you are here

and why one day

you too will disappear

from being

and like all things living

… return

TL

Delite

if it’s not

one thing … it’s

girl-scout-cookies

can’t say

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

to toothless pink pigtails

hopping up and down

with her curbside crew

chanting

she jest wouldn’t understand …

no-thank you-dear-everything hurts-when-you-get-old-

and-one-day-you’ll-understand-

and-have-20pounds-to-lose-and-unexpected things-

will-set-ya-back-a-notch-or-two-or-three-and-the-last-thing-ya-need-to-do-

is-devour-a-box-of-caramel delite-in-1.2

toothless grins wider when I hand her a $20

for five boxes of delite

and tells me what a GREAT choice I made

and as I walked away laughing at life

and heard them chanting to the next customer

I realized it was a great

choice

TL

Avalon

and even though

the red

of Christmas is gone

and the twinkle lights

went dark

and the trees all went

back in the box

or thrown out

to the street

and all the gifts are opened

and closed

like the year turned over

in memory

staring out

a lone winter window

at a field of gray sticks

their branches still strung

in drops that glisten

there was this gift

unopened

an ornament left

out on a limb

shining bright and round and

red

TL

Buried Bulbs

the water

ain’t clear

on the banks

of an Alabama line

but you go in anyway

like the rain does

and it’s hard to move in mud

wearing heavy boots

and a bag on your back

but there’s no way around it

but through

in the evening of an endless day

you imagine the daffodils unearthed

all lit up in the field

and you can feel their light

so strong within

they made it out of the mud

found a clearing

and pushed on through

nine months went by

and it’s good to see the sky

no longer dark or gray or blurred

but blue

TL