#grandfather poems on Hello Poetry

Mike Hentges Feb 2018

Father

my brother does this thing where he siphons the stories from someone. Usually old people because they have the best stories

I drive through the old homestead – the fog of my emotions

Have of my memories

My father does this thing where he holds his little hands at his waist, twisting them inside one another

We are three generations eating dominoes pizza

Defined by death and divorce – not there and not existing yet
My grandfather is 90. He is stories made flesh and my brother pulls at them like a rope from a,

Well,

Because he has discovered the census data for Ham Lake from 1940

My grandfather tells stories of the missing generation

His father – can’t work because he’s a welfare brat

His mother died young

Stepmother an angel – gave him socks when his father was crying because they cut him off

My father – tells underbreath mumbles of lost arguments and lost respect – he gives me socks for Christmas

Father drank a lot. You get to pick who I’m talking about. Maybe alcoholism skips a generation. If so I fear for my children.

Grandpa joined the navy. His father got a job – everyday worked it through sickness and in health – a marriage of money and mind because the paycheck meant freedom and freedom meant everything

He finds his dad at work – navy uniform coated in the expectations of his brothers.

“So you went and did it.”

The story kind of trails off there, the way old people stories do. Kind of like young person poems

I helped my dad set up the TV we got him for Christmas

Because he never used the guitar center gift card from last year.

#father #grandfather #generations #death #divorce #grandmother #grandpa #dad #brother

Randy Johnson Feb 2018

Papaw's Demise

You died twenty years ago today.
On February 7, 1998, you passed away.
You were born in 1910 and died at the age of eighty-seven.
Twenty years ago, you left this Earth and went to Heaven.

You became a widower in 1957 and had your kids to finish raising.
You finished raising your kids by yourself and that was amazing.
When you died, it was something that I hated.
You were my Papaw and you were appreciated.

Dedicated to Burkette Greene who died on February 7, 1998.

#death #dedicatn #farewell #grandfather #nonfiction

CP Dec 2017

forty days

Forty days have passed and I still think about you every night
As I lay down in my bed
As I lay down with my thoughts

Forty days have passed and I don’t wear black everyday
But I feel that shade inside
Plain and simple
Dark and lonely
There’s nothing I can do to change it
You’re gone and that’s permanent
The finality is jarring

Forty days have passed but every night I close my eyes and see them throw dirt over you
My heart sinks and lowers down my rib cage echoing your coffin
I know that wasn’t you, you left us already by then
Yet why does my mind keep returning to that scene

Forty days have passed but Cyprus doesn’t feel quite like home anymore
Neither does London.

Forty days have passed and I keep finding my eyes stinging and breath escaping
I don’t know what to do, I don’t think any of the family know what to do now you’re gone
I suppose just carry on

Forty days have passed and my black clothes mean nothing to these people or my friends but you know and so do I

Every night I look at those constellations you pointed with one hand and the other holding your cigarette
When I see the stars shine
It’s your sign
Six months have passed and I know you’re here but I can’t bring myself to take off this black just yet

#death #sad #poem #cp #coni #stars #grandfather #family #black #love

Samantha Dec 2017

Family Is...

Mom
Is the one who
  Sacrificed her comfort
   For 9 months for me.
    She taught me
     To play, cook,
      And be a good person.

Max
Is the brother
  I've had since age four
   Often annoying, but
    Still so sweet
     The best brother
      I could ask for.

Babcia
Is the grandmother
  Who has been making
   Some of the best food
    In the family
     She's kind and sweet
      And I love her to bits.

Grandma and Grandpa
Are the grandparents
  I couldn't thank enough
   For all they've done.
    Together, we
     Celebrate
      Party
      Love
     Enjoy
    Our time
   Together
  I wish it
Wouldn't end.

Dad
Is the father who...

...

Gave me half his DNA?
I guess?

...

Poem's over, bye!

We are family!

#family #mother #father #sibling #brother #grandma #grandpa #grandmother #grandfather #funny

Francie Lynch Nov 2017

Still Lifes

I store still-lifes in my head,
Still-life cells I need to shred,
Living scenes, though some be dead.
Friends in pain, distraught, alone,
The homeless searching for a home.
Family crying, children dying,
In black and white, and technicolor,
Parents, babies, sisters, brothers,
In re-runs, awake, or in my slumber.
Close-ups I was witness to,
Actions I directed,
Or supporting actor to.
One day I'll stand on the stage,
For a curtain call I can't assuage;
The spot will light me,
I'm stripped naked,
In a bio-pic that's been my making.
I'll be a still-life in their heads,
A Dad and Granda,
Though still long dead.

#family #grandfather

Debbie Stevens Oct 2017

Please look down on me from up above.

I'd do anything for you to be here again...
even if it was just for a few seconds,
even if it was just a quick phone call.
I just want to feel your touch, I just want to hear your voice.

#rip #rest #in #peace #heaven #death #grandfather #father #love #grief

Jeanie Aug 2017

A Grandfather you would draw

Our grandfather was a grandfather you would draw
He would make pennies appear from our ears and remove his thumb for our delight
He whistled to say hello, and had a voice that made green grow the rushes
He embodied the joy of a child and so the fairies came to live in his garden to whisper messages to us

Our grandfather greeted us with an apple or pear or cucumber or something of Bob’s best
He would dress for our arrival making a belt of string and show us the latest marvel in his treasure trove garden
Our grandfather hugged like a bear and gave kisses so freely that you would never forget how deeply you were loved

A man of principle, a man of courage, a man who fought the titans for the Lilliputian’s of this world
A man who did not live on his knees, but stood and looked you in the eye, respected you and with compassion put forward his truth
Our grandfather taught us right from wrong in front of his fire, as the clock chimed and the chandelier shivered and the scarlet chaise longue told you how far this man had come

Our grandfather withstood pain in his life, sang songs with prisoners of war, made great machines and dreams for his grandchildren
His soul shone out and people loved him, not just for who he was but for how he made us feel

#poem #death #grandfather #love #reflection #memories #family #funeral #sadness

Daisy Rae Aug 2017

cigarettes

My grandfather cares for me and my mother
Since dad left we haven't had much
I never hear much from my older bother
I crave just to feel a loving touch
Bullies drove me away from school
So now I do it secluded in my home
One time a boy told me that I was a tool
And he'd use me however he wanted
I used to draw on my wrists with sharp objects
It made me forget about the pain in the dark
To the boys who smiled and said I was beautiful
I wish I had never let you give me marks
God says my body is a temple
Yet I starve and scratch it all up
***** and cigarettes have always been my escape

Drowning in Hennessy and blowing away my worries in smoke
I've always worried about my shape
I've never been anything but broke
I love when my grandfather visits me
He leaves behind a trace of his smell
He smokes a pipe and tries to hide it's fragrance
It reminds me that we all have our little bit of hell.

#cigarettes #smoke #***** #hell #boys #bullies #body #grandfather

Ileana Payamps Aug 2017

...Again

Out of all the things that my grandfather taught me, the advice that I will remember the most is: everything in this world is possible; everything that you can dream about can be achieved.
For you to reach your goals, live your dreams and be successful in life, you have to dedicate yourself and never give up.
It will not be easy to get wherever you want to go but it’s not impossible.
It will take time but you have to be patient and you must believe in yourself.
You cannot be afraid to be different from everyone else, this world seeks change, and if you work hard, you can be that change.
You will have to fight harder as the days go by for what you truly love and care about.
The world needs warriors who would go out their way to please and help others get through life.
You have to be good to others, but be greater to yourself.
You have to love others, but you must love yourself first.
I, personally, have to stop being afraid to love the people that I love.
I don’t know what it feels like to put my heart out there and give it to the ones that love me. I don’t know what it feels like to have my heart broken by the one I thought would never fail me.
But I do know that to love feels good and to be loved feels greater.
I know what it feels like when your best friend chooses something else over you.
I know what it feels like to let him walk away from me, from someone who would go out her way to do anything for him. Just to make him happy and please him.
I know what it feels like to see him everyday,
Walk by him and after everything,
After every advice,
After every smile shared,
After every well-spent time,
After loving each other unconditionally…
I know what it feels like to feel nothing at all.
I know what it feels like to not care at all.
I know what it feels like to be happy and loved again.

Started writing this in the beginning of freshman year in high school,
Finished writing it in the beginning of freshman year in college
Since my life has changed very much...

#advice #grandfather #change #workhard #love #warrior #happy #feels #dreams #successful

CP Aug 2017

I can't feel

I can't feel anything
What joy could it bring
When you're not there
And empty lies your chair

I can't feel anything
But I tried to have a fling
Kissing him to feel inside
Even when my tears hadn't dried
But I know all within myself had died

I can't feel anything
Now that you're gone
I just can't carry on
I can feel it missing
every time we're reminiscing

I can't feel anything
but I know that's a lie
Because every time I look at the sky
I simply cry as I can't bring myself to say goodbye

my pappou passed away and I'm being a vet miserable cow.

#sad #depressed #death #alone #feelings #feels #grandfather #family #cp #sky