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In Memory of Dad - JR Whitaker
by Tony Whitaker
Dad took us fishing
my brother and I
from when we were children
until his sudden end
grandpas nine-acre pond
all those hours so long ago
how he loved to fish
beginning before sunrise
and somehow knowing
when they stop biting
saying its time to go
A heart attack took him
nineteen seventy-nine
smoked two packs a day
loved his homemade wine
and he chased life and women
to my mother's constant chagrin
but when he died how she cried
when five hundred filed by his casket
for he was everyones friend
I cried for days
through the funeral
then at work and I know
on nerves I wore
because I never took the time
to tell him "I love you so"
but dad, I will see you soon
that much I know
youll be telling tales
about the fish
that got away
with who else but Saint Peter
waiting there
for the rest of us
to go fishing
another day
12/19/2007 Author's Note: His name on his birth certificate is "Barefoot Boy" and took my grandparents a while to come up with his real name: James Robah Whitaker, but everyone called him JR. He was only 47 when he dies and had no idea how many people's lives he touched when the funeral home was overflowing in the little town of Kernersville, NC. I miss you dad.
Posted on 12/19/2007
Copyright © 2024 Tony Whitaker
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 12/19/07 at 03:29 PM A heartfelt tribute to a very special dad. He obviously touched many people in his short life. |
| Posted by Alisa Js on 12/20/07 at 08:18 AM What a glowing tribute of love for your father. Filled with adoration and respect. Thank you for sharing a part of your world with us out here... alisa ;-) |
| Posted by Kathleen Wilson on 12/22/07 at 08:26 AM Strong loving statement, with a rich undertone of not so easily explained personality, charismatic and complex... and so young... quite an unforgettable dad, and easy to understand he would have a poet-son! |
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