GRANDAD WAS

I never had my heart stolen by anyone so grand
as when I was three and discovered my sweet granddad

my memories only go back to when I was three
that was my first real memory that to this day I can see

mama said my granddad gave me my name
when I was born
she had another name picked out and she was kind of torn

but she remembered the wife that granddad had lost in death when she was a young wife

He had to raise the children after her death and it completely changed their life

so mom decided to let him have his way
and grandad gave me the name I have to this day

In My memory at 3, I was wearing a polka dot dress
looking up at him, my head on his shoulder it would rest

I remember looking into his sparkling eyes
they were a bright blue just like the sky

my granddad was a special man
His influence on me strong would always stand

in some nine short years, he came to be
My daily sidekick next to me

he lived next to our Fenceline just down the road
Grandads was retired from working on the railroad

his garden stretched as far as your eyes could see
he used old bill a plow horse to till the ground and plant seeds

in his garden from sun up to sundown
is where my granddad could always be found

Everything I learned about the land
was from watching granddad as he used his big hands

There wasn’t a flower’s 🌸 name he didn’t know
He could even make a sickly plant grow

the days and weeks turn into months and years
But when I was nine I experienced my worst fear

granddad was tilling one day in the field
when he just slumped over I experienced cold chills

I didn’t understand the look on daddy’s face it was one of gloom
Until the day they brought him from the hospital and put him in his room

he was only there for just a little while
I didn’t get to see him but Mom said he died with a smile

I don’t remember much after that except that
I would cry every time I saw Daddy wear his old hat

I started visiting my favorite place in the woods
I sat and thought about how things used to be good

I was staring at a bird in the corner that’s the first time when
I first saw him standing by the orchard gate he was very plain and thin

I hesitated for a moment, got a little closer and I could see
it was a bucket turned upside down on a post in front of me

it was someone’s target practice no more a useful prize
the holes they made in the tin bucket looked like two big eyes

the dent in the middle looked like a nose a little bit
turned upside down hanging there the handle made it fit

It was just an old rusty bucket on an old fence post
But it wasn’t my granddad and that’s what hurt the most

I remember using my fist and started pounding on the ground
crying and crying until I heard myself making a mewling sound

finally, when I calm down I found
it was OK that the bucket was upside down

I started talking to the bucket that hung there on the fence
he became Mr. gate bucket from that day hence

I would stop and visit every time I went for a walk in the woods
I always did the talking and he listened as he should

he was my best friend throughout the rest of the year
Faithful Mr. Gate-bucket help me get beyond all my fear

to this day I thank Mr. Gate bucket because
He was the perfect imaginary friend I needed
to remember
who my granddad was