On July 18, 2018 a very tragic thing happened in my family. My brother-in-law Mikie was killed in a house fire. See the picture of Mikie above doing one of the things he loved to do – hang out on a golf cart with his beloved dog Jenny. Jenny now lives with us and Mikie has moved on to his next adventure with his Creator in eternity.
This tragedy has obviously hit my family hard.
Life for his survivors has been busy with taking care of his funeral, insurance, Jenny, and many other details. My own grieving has taken a back seat to all of this activity, but it’s there all the same and needs to be expressed and dealt with. Yesterday I had the opportunity to read my second poem in public at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse in Hickory, NC. My poem deals with the day of July 18, 2018 from the stand point of many of the things I heard on that day.
That day started out normal and ended in a “not normal” state. In the poem I chose not to mention Gary Michael Martin – Mikie – by name but he’s there all the same. Pray for my family and take a few moments to read my second ever poem.
I Hear [At Day’s End}
The 2nd Poem by Ben Johnson
The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. Ecc 1:5
The day begins as it always does
Silent, then the train whistle blows
5 miles away, before the sun rose
On another day on this planet
Sitting quietly, the clock ticks away
Watching nothing on tv
As Cooper sighs
Stretched out on the couch
Like one of the guys
Then clanging, and laughing
The sounds of friends
Laughing, talking of nothing
Steel in their hands
In hopes of better days
Their clock is ticking
The desk, the screen
They don’t talk back
It’s lonely here, just them and me
The clock ticks away
The long road home
On a busy boulevard
Of lonely dreams
[[[No thing is as it seems
No sound could be heard
Above the screams]]]
A friend, a deck
Oh what the heck
Words of the day
The clock strikes eight
It’s getting late
Alone again
Voices down below
Hello sir, anyone home?
Just me and the pooch
I greet the strangers
Clad in Blue, carrying steel
With troubled looks on their face
And not a trace
Of a smile
But warm and careful
Their words made no sense
Fire, Smoke, Danger, Gone
As the clock ticked on
Into the night
I’m trying to fight
Back the tears
How could this be?
Her voice as sweet as ever
On the phone, then she is home
It changes quickly with the news
Disbelief, what did you say?
It can’t be this way
No, not today
Not him, not now,
Oh how will I tell her?
A prayer from a friend
The sun rose on this day
Far away
The sun set as it always does
But nothing was the same
Nor ever will be
You see….well….he..
The words won’t come
The Phone, the voices, the tears
the clock ticks on
Rest well, my friend
At Day’s end.
Random Words by Terry 