That came to mom and me
Simultaneously to describe
Dad and how he approached almost
Everything he did in life.
A list of everything to take for a ski trip
Researching skis or tennis rackets
Or wine before buying the best.
Packing the car so well that
We sometimes took pictures of the
Full trunk, then the pile of stuff
It had held.
Wanting to be at the base of the lift
Before it started for the day.
Telling us to be sure we had everything we wanted
But bringing all of what we needed
Because he was the dad.
Skiing behind the rest of the family
To be sure we were all safe
As we went down the slopes.
Blocks of wood to hold skis at the right height
For waxing, kept in the same black tool box
With the iron, files, waxes, and straps.
Knots on a string to strength his eyes.
The logic of the Atkins diet
Or Nutri-system’s strict rules.
A pad of narrow white lined paper
With columns for the date of an invoice,
The name of the provider, the amount of the bill,
The amount paid, and the amount remaining due,
All written with a freshly sharpened Ticonderoga #3 pencil.
Juggling bills.
The precision of the cabinets
In our kitchen,
Made by his hands
Or of the boards to traverse the slope
In the few inches between
The porch and the kitchen
Cut just right in his shop.
Masonry drill bits, nail guns, studs
To hold pegboard to the cement walls
For his organized tools.
Making a backyard ice rink
Just so, in spite of the dip in the back left corner,
With patient, thin layers of water
To keep the ice where we wanted it.
Explaining to a Friendly’s waiter or waitress
How to make a vanilla milkshake
With lime sherbet ice cream
(You have to blend it extra to get it smooth).
How to make a Big Beef with the setup,
Or a salad plate without the extra lettuce
For presentation.
He knew what he wanted and
How to do it.
Just so.
------
edited
December 29, 2015
Demons
– v2
edited
December 29, 2015
Did
You Hear Her Cry – v2
edited
December 29, 2015
The
Crash – v2
edited
December 18, 2015
The
Submariner – v2
&
edited
December 17, 2015
Meticulous
– v2
&
edited
December 18, 2015
Adam
Asked – v2
==========
edited
October 22, 2015
Did
you brace for impact – v2
edicted
October 22, 2015
Mile
Marker 19 – v8
(editing
original)
edited October
5, 2015
Like the Venus
Fly Trap – v9
(editing
version 5)
&
edited October
3, 2015
Why on this
day – v3
(editing
original)
edited October
19, 2014
Why on this
day – v2
July 1, 2014
Why on this
day
“My Prayers
Weekend!”
“Next Day
Stretch”
draft a note
to God
about a day
when you struggled
with a big question
for June 29,
2014
read June 30,
2014
&
edited June 27, 2014
A vivid memory – v2
June 27, 2014
A vivid memory
Matthew 28:20
(NRSV)
Romans 8:31-39
Upper Room
Daily Devotional
“In Dark Times”
by Don Greeley
about Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder
for June 26,
2014
read June 27,
2014
Upper Room
Daily Devotional
for March and
April 2014
&
edited August
15, 2015
Here it comes
– v3
(editing
version 2)
edited January
12, 2014
Here it comes
– v2
January 12,
2014
Here it comes
January 12,
2014
I am not ready
(conversation
by Dean McKenney about his
bad car
accident 40 years ago)
January 12,
2014
an accounting
to God
January 12,
2014
Honor their
walk
Romans
14:10-12
Romans 14:1-12
Romans 14
Men’s Bible
Study
led by Steve
Curtis
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
January 12,
2014
&
edited August
4, 2015
Like the Venus
Fly Trap – v8
(editing
version 5)
edited
May 9, 2015
Ten
Years – v2
April
23, 2004
Ten
Years
see
also
-------
edited
January 11, 2014
Mile
Marker 19 – v7
(editing
version 6)
Edited
November 9, 2013
Mile
Marker 19 – v6
(editing
version 3)
-------
edited March
21, 2015
Like the Venus
Fly Trap – v7
(editing
version 5)
edited
December 3, 2014
Like the Venus
Fly Trap – v6
(editing
version 3)
Edited
November 9, 2013
“Like the
Venus Fly Trap – v5”
Edited
October 24, 2013
“Like
the Venus Fly Trap – v4”
Edited
October 11, 2013
“Like
the Venus Fly Trap – v3”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“Like
the Venus Fly Trap – v2”
December
20, 2012
“Like
the Venus Fly Trap”
edited
February 11, 2014
“hiding
in the ice – v9”
edited
January 4, 2014
“hiding
in the ice – v8”
(editing
version 5)
Edited
September 28, 2013
“hiding
in the ice – v7”
(editing version 3)
Edited
September 28, 2013
“hiding
in the ice – v6”
(editing
version 2)
Edited
September 25, 2013
“hiding
in the ice – v5”
Edited
August 2, 2013
“hiding
in the ice – v4”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“hiding
in the ice – v3”
Edited
December 21, 2012
“hiding
in the ice – v2”
December
21, 2012
“hiding
in the ice”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“Animated
/ Evil – v2”
December
20, 2012
“Animated
/ Evil”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“A
latent danger – v3”
December
20, 2012
“A
latent danger – v2”
“A
latent danger”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“Smiling
in the freezing – v2”
December
20, 2012
“Smiling
in the freezing”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“A
frozen trap – v2
December
20, 2012
“A
frozen trap”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“was
the road innocent – v2”
December
21, 2012
“was
the road innocent”
Edited
December 26, 2012
“Did
the ice know – v2”
December
20, 2012
“Did
the ice know”
series
of new poems
also
about my father’s death,
after
reviewing poem by Jacob Montgomery,
“Icy
Lanes”,
(see
more of his poems at:
and
exchanging emails with him about that poem
and
my father’s death
2/14/1991
&
Edited
August 22, 2013
“eyes
not shut – v2”
August 22,
2013
“eyes not
shut”
a poem in conjured
after reading poem
“TATTOOS AND ATTITUDE”
by Chip Bergeron
&
Edited
September 20, 2012
new
poem, “Did you brace for impact”
&
Edited
September 20, 2012
“Mile
Marker 19 – v5”
&
Edited
September 12, 2012
“Mile
Marker 19 – v4”
editing
version 2 below
&
Edited
September 12, 2012
“Mile
Marker 19 – v3”
editing
the original again
inspired
by reading it at Poets’ Corner
monthly
poetry reading,
at
the Suncook Senior Center
September
10, 2012
&
edited
June 6, 2012 (adding an additional last stanza)
“Mile
Marker 19 – v2”
&
October
2, 2011
Did
You Hear Her Cry
after
rereading earlier poem,
“Mile
Marker 19”
&
Edited April
23, 2013
“No Life in
Your Eyes – v2”
February 11,
2011
“No Life in
Your Eyes”
remembering
the 20th anniversary
of my father’s
death, February 14, 1991
written at the
House of Purpose coffeehouse
Hillsboro, NH
February 11,
2011
&
new
poem February 11, 2014
Where
you are scattered
posted
March 22, 2004
written
2/26/2001
Adam
Asked
posted
March 18, 2004
written
March 6, 2001
Meticulous
posted
March 17, 2004
written
3/2/2001 and 3/5/2001
The
Submariner
posted
February 18, 2004
March
2, 2001
“Ashes”
posted
February 18, 2004
March
2, 2001
“Home
Again”
&
posted
March 10, 2004
written
April 3, 2001 8:47am
Demons
&
posted
February 14, 2004
(the
13th anniversary of my father’s fatal accident)
written
June 18, 2001 10:54pm
The
Crash
about my father's death
February 14, 1991
and
my car accident
the
day I applied to law school
&
posted
February 8, 2004
original
version written 5/20/2000
“Mile
Marker 19”
posted
to my blog on February 8, 2004,
as
the 15th poem put on
the site -
about
my father’s fatal car accident
near
Mile Marker 19
on
the Spaulding Turnpike
Rochester,
NH
February
14, 1991 at 7:02pm
Valentine’s
Day
All of my
poems and photographs are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for
usage. See all 40,470+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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