Meticulous
was the one word
That
came to mom and me
Simultaneously
to describe
Dad
and how he approached
almost
every choice,
every step,
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 just held.
Wanting
to be at the base of the ski 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 strengthen his eyes.
The
logic of the Atkins diet
Or
Nutri-system’s strict rules.
A new
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 just so.
The
precision of the cabinets
In
our finished 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
Each
by its type and size
Even
the rarely used
Items
from his toolbox…
Making
a backyard ice rink
Just
so, in spite of the dip in the back left corner,
With
patience, thin layers of water
To
keep the ice where we wanted it
Reveling
in the success, pulling out
His
old leather skates…
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 and taste.
He
knew what he wanted and
How
to do it.
Always,
just so.
------
edited August 21,
2019
Meticulous – v3
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,
photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray
Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 51,550+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
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