To be read at a certain place at a certain time. Only God knows when.

Papa

My grandfather,
The teddy-bear of a man
Always ready with a hug
Or perhaps a word of encouragement.
Always ready to laugh
With his Boston accent
Always there, forever.
He is the statue that faces eternity
The mountain that stands tall
Almost like the Earth itself
Always there until the end.
You may not always understand him
(Damn you, stroke; you are the restrainer of dreams)
But the tone is enough
“You played well!”
“Good game!”
And yet that voice is now silenced
A blank slate in a void of existence.
I know him as a figure
A man to look up to
But he was many things
To different people
In different times
The old days, when the Earth was young.
I now know some things about him
That I did not know before
Things kept secret, lest I or my siblings heard.
This knowledge does not tarnish my respect for him
Yet I know what others would say
If they knew what I know.
They would act as though he was lower than low
Dirtier than dirty
A man who is not truly a man
Indeed, some would call him a monster.
Killing a man, long ago
He condemned himself
With that famous temper of his
To a cold life, one of the most bitter.
Yet, later, his life took a turn
Meeting my Mimi, and being reborn
I do not know the man who came before
But I do know my Papa, a man without equal.
He will never have songs sung about him
(Present company excluded, of course)
He will never have a painting made of him
Or a statue built in his memory.
Then again, who does?
Only the most pompous of asses, that’s who.
His name will be forgotten in the ravages of time
His character fading like dust in the wind
But this does not matter.
What matters is everyone here
At this somber occasion
Knows this man.
If he wasn’t important to you
Why would you be here?
Why would you care about what I have to say?
****, I need to stop these ****ing tears
Or we’ll be here all-day.
My grandfather was my Papa
What more needs to be said?
God damn it
Why did he need to go?
Here’s my toast to his memory
May it remain in our hearts and minds
Until the day we die.