20161116 (filial devotion)

"1990: A father chides his son for playing too much 'Tetris.' 2016: A son packs his father's possessions into a truck with nothing left behind on the curb and no room left in the truck for the holy spirit (as they say). So it goes." Nathaniel on Facebook, commentary about helping his dad move cross-country.

     
Were Leif Erikson and his crew

Sick the day before they hazarded

Sailing west beyond "Where 

Dragons be?" Did they all have

“Nervous stomachs”as my mom

So cautiously and so motherly

Euphemised? I had. More I was

Concerned that I might never

Wear pants again lest henceforth

I might not remove them in time. 

Moving day found me with

Worries enough about movement

And exertion as to slow me

Down if not totally disable me.

I’d lost a day of preparation

Which caused even hastier

Packing—the box labeled

“Drills” took on scattered

Office paraphernalia which

Led to an inability to find

Scissors on arrival (all my

Utility blades are still hiding

In sympathy), my travel bag

Contained sufficient briefs 

But only one pair of socks. 

My youngest, Nathaniel, had

Completed a two-and-a-half

Year project at Google and had

The chance to take time off 

For rest and relaxation. Why 

Instead he chose the physical

And mental stress of helping

Me get to Olympia, I’ll never

Know. Perhaps that was the

Otherworldly rationale of 

Having my first two house

Sales fail—to delay my leaving

Until he could aid unencumbered

By responsibilities at work— 

Another one of those clouded

Serendipities that a good

Statistician could whisk away

With a couple formulae and

An appeal to flipping quarters,

Thereby draining the mysterious

From life and leaving us with

No providential overseer to 

Thank other than dumb luck

And a sincere desire to see

Meaning where none may be.

Since I had done nothing 

Special to make my progeny

Paragons of charity, I chalked

Their beneficence up to the 

Guidance of their loving mother, 

Since departed, no longer in the 

Picture to shout, “Great shot, Nat!”

“Good going, Andy,” “Terrific,

Emily!”  I have often told

Others, if you see my kids doing

Something laudable—music, science,

Literature—that’s Jean. But if 

They’re picking their noses or

Their butts and telling the latest 

Dirty jokes, you know the source.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016