Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Small Fortunes In The Sun


Hardly a day goes by
That I don't score
A lucky penny
     on my way
To wherever
On the sidewalks of my old home town
(where I have returned
In my twilight years
To see my days out
In the sun).
                  But then
                  I'm lucky
To be here anyway.

I owe it all to my mother
Who, passed away
These many years ago now
Wanted to follow her star -
              to be a star -
                     wanted
To better herself
In life

From life in small-town America
In an out-of-the-way state
Where her fate
Was tied up in a lot
Of other dreams
In the lottery of life.

They say
Opportunity knocks
But once:
Her Big Chance came 
Af the expense
Of her second husband
Who was her ticket
To Hollywood -
                   or at least 
Southern California,
           and suburbia
in Long Beach.

A pleasant town
To grow up in.

And then I left
To further schooling,
              and then
The Big One
Of Life itself.
And have now come back
Full circle
After a whirl
Of the roulette wheel,
A roll of the dice - 
To seek my fortune
In smaller ways.
Like checking
For pennies in the sun.


…before I become
An Avenging Angel
Of my Country
In my - and its -
Last Days

Against liberals
And assorted other
           statists 
       mocking
       free men
  and women
             
             like
My mother.

Bless her.
Even
If she didn't know how
           really
To be one

        in her
Search for
And dreams for
Happiness
In her days
In the sun
Of adulation.

Not for her
Were simple pleasures
          like
I have grown
Accustomed to
In my old age.
At this stage
Of my eternal life.

Ah well.
            To each
His own.


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