Richard Lackman Poems

I set out to write this poem and I had a simple plan.
I'd avoid all things prosaic and I'd do the best I can
To optimize the content and the grammar and the rhyme
And of course I'd tell a story that would echo for all time
...

When I scurry about on a rainy day
Acting annoyed at the rain
I sometimes remember a time far away
When I viewed raindrops with no disdain
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I still remember my first kiss though fourty years have passed
The beauty of the moment and the thrill will ever last
Etched into my memory as words into a stone
Clearer than the clearest night that I have ever known
...

As I look out upon October leaves
And brown grass weathered by the Autumn sun
I see the shafts of light a bare branch cleaves
And so much of creation now undone
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As I go through life I understand
The changes that my body must endure
And as for me I've learned how to withstand
My aging as I pass through every door
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I learned today that I am almost dead
Although I've felt but just a little pain
The cancer in my lung went to my head
And life for me will never be the same
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Now at the age of sixty, I am quite prepared to die
I am neither old nor sickly but have no reason to try
To add another decade for no purpose or no gain
As I've had all the experiences I wanted to attain
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I woke up from the surgery minus my left leg
With searing pain below my hip as if a powder keg
Exploded deep within my thigh leaving nothing there
But tissues sewn together which was more that I could bear
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How is it at the age of sixty I am still alone
Each day walking, eating, sleeping always on my own
How did I miss the partnership that most of us attain
My only walking partner seems to be my walking cane
...