THE LONG WAY HOME
Easter Sunday 1959
I began
Precious gift of essence
Bill and Dot’s bundle of joy
Robust baby boy
I vaguely remember snippets
Early days of existence
A house painter named “Speedy Gonzalez”
Resulting purple masterpiece
Created with pride
On the shade side of the home
Watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show
My how the girls were agitated
I wanted to be Ringo
A star
Long haired millionaire
My Mother’s gentle question “why”
As I stood far away from the TV set
“The man said PLEASE STAND BACK”
Now how can I recall such a moment?
Walking in the wet grass to see Dr. McDaniel
My feet wrapped in plastic bags
We were a one car family
My Dad brought home the bacon
The powerful aroma of paper mill chemicals
“Smells like bread and butter” he would say
Tricking my sister Lisa
Into drinking dirty mop water
I told her it was “fizzies”
She has yet to forget that mean prank
We called my youngest sister “Buggy”
Spared from the brunt of my mischievous wrath
Since she was just a baby
Playing fast pitch baseball at age five
Learning how to bunt
I took the first ball square on the chin
Coach McCann urging me to “get back in there”
Man I love that game
Boy Scout campouts at Pushmataha
“Sir Bear” our fearless leader
Sleeping underneath the stars
Barefoot games of tackle
I ran the ball like a tank
Catching snakes with my friend Dale
Sloshing through the South Alabama creeks
Brim fishing with Greg
With night crawlers from behind the dog shed
This day I see the sacrifice
Masked struggles of my loving parents
To provide a descent life
Amazing
How my road has been so twisted
It seems I took the long way home
© Bill Grimes Jr. 2006
