5:17- 4-27-2014 R.I.P. Daddy

 
...Brash, tough, smart
rough, hustling running  
thru the streets, see
surviving became his art
early on as a young man
he won a woman's heart...
 
As the years spent together  
amounted to a love for life
n' while seasons passed
offspring...they raised many,  
thru the ceaseless turmoil n' strife...
 
Those 'Good Times' came  
though mixed with a lot of bad
recollecting now makes me smile
over the craziness our home had
no recapturing the laughter  
pains me deeply sad
 
He was a hard ass, sometimes
n' yet many times showed his heart  
who could count those times  
with a straight face, those  
tall tales he'd impart  
 
Truly talented in singing  
n' spinning a story  
also he was not too shabby  
in the kitchen, baking biscuits glory
 
Seemed  I'm guessing
he was 'Ripley's' cohort  
n' it was as if he was a 'pied piper  
of people' as he collected friends like it was a sport...
 
Flawed in more ways than one
but without doubt he's locked
n' loaded within in my memory's gun
 
A friend, a father, a husband
but there was so much left undone
still, what an intriguing life he lived
oh dear lord I wish he had at least
twenty more years to us he'd give...