By BR Chitwood
*
Too many echoes fill the air,
Like a dream with too many players…
A cow moos in the meadow,
Happily chewing its cud and grass…
As tears roll down my cheek,
With memories of Appalachian
Emotions pitching low and high as
I guide old Bessie home for milking…
The grade school’s resident bully stops
Me, taunts, teases, and fills me
With unaccountable fear and pain…
The bully runs toward his home
As his father yells his displeasure
In his call for chores and dinner…
Small, simple these easy words convey
A condition which shall prevail
For the rest of my life…
Old Bessie and I make it to the home
Of my grandparents who caretake me,
Knowing well the ugly memories of the past…
Divorced parents and the awful depression
That ruled so many of our days, and nights,
Nights when sleep was blocked by thoughts…
My beautiful country born and bred
Grandma and Grandpa saw me through
Those long-ago days of struggles…
They will always be in my thoughts and
Prayers, reminding me that a simple country
Life brought me love and humility…
***
BR Chitwood
July 11, 2022
My Web site with twenty books of fiction (some based on true crimes), hundreds of blog posts, poetry, short stories, flash fiction…
https://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood
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Author: Website: http://brchitwood.com - B R Chitwood - My Mission: Writing to Discover Me
I'm a young man in an old man's body, trying to catch up to myself, trying to find pieces of me I left back in a disconnected youth and the early years of manhood. I'm a stereotype of many in my generation who can play the 'blame game', yell 'foul', and 'let's start over'. But, we are what we are, the sum of all the scary kid-emotions we experienced, the gin mills and piano bars that became our sandboxes of pleasure - lotus eaters of the best (or, worst) kind, the love affairs that did not quite settle us down, the sad poetry and songs written in bars and motels along the way... A Dreamer! A Wanderlust! The world needs such fools as we to write our books, our poetry, our songs, to offset the madness that plagues the soul.
I've written fourteen books, over three hundred blog posts, in search of those pieces left somewhere in many parts of the globe. You can preview my books on the next page. There's even a Blog page...all my posts are not showing on this recently created blog page, but, if you want to read more, go to my official blog site and check out the archives: http://www.thefinalcurtain1
Writing for me is therapy for the soul.
Website: https://billyraychitwood.com
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This is such a thoughtful and touching poem Billy Ray. It’s amazing how you have such clear memories of your past. xo
eden
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Lovely of you to say!
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A beautiful sensitive poem, Billy Ray. And I understood it even further from reading your memoir (or ‘not memoir that really is a memoir’). 🙂 Sorry I haven’t visited much. I have a difficult time finding your newest posts. Glad I found this one! ❤
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