The Occasional Poem
In his spare time
Great Grandfather guided for cash
sending big cats up trees
hounds below, while the bank-men
shot and missed
in the mists of
Cougar Mountain
Grandpa held the fire doors open
at the Newcastle Mine, age 8
fought the union busters
drank hard for a while
saw a man cut in half
at PACCAR
My Dad sold loggers
heavy equipment
before they sobered
and read the fine print
drove a Gypsy Red '55 Chev....for a while
and when Boeing crashed in '69,
he crashed a little too, righting himself
on an island that wasn't quite
an island, with no boat
no beach, writing
the occasional poem