Dark draped the Ferry in confusion
on its final, fatal night.
Survivors spoke of a collision.
They knew that something wasn’t right.
A class of students on a trip
Bound for Jeju from Incheon
The Ferryman said to stay below
but he debarked and they’re all gone.
The ferry Sewol began to list
and water poured in through her ports.
Will anyone present forget the screams?
Souls in torment fill their thoughts.
Search and rescue soon became
a sad and grim recovery.
Their final moments were caught on cellphones
recovered from the silted sea.
The Ferryman has much to answer
About those students left behind
Perhaps in dreams he will be haunted
as young  drowned faces flood his mind.

April 24 2010 there was a Boy Scout display in the parking lot North of Mickey Ds and by the Imagination Station. Tony was fascinated by many of the displays. The Sheriff’s Office was well represented with several displays. Tony got to climb up on the rescue boat, the one we see going by our house frequently in the summer to fish someone out of the river. The two Sheriff’s Office Deputies in charge of the boat were really good with the kids. About 15 minutes later Tony bent over the bow of the boat, I was on the good ole solid ground, and said to me, “These guys are really COOL grandpa.” I said, “yup, they are.” and looked over at one of guys. I ask, “Did you hear that?” With a big grin he said, “I sure did.” He had a big grin on his face for a while. Tony debarked and headed to new territory. I have to have speedy shoes on to keep up some days. I wish I could find a pair of those.

Later we were at a different car on display. The people there were young intern or trainee types wearing the Sheriff’’s Office shirt and hardware. Tony had bailed out of the armored car where he had been playing for 20 minutes and was standing next to me watching the young group yucking it up. They were loud and horsing around some… with out the horse. All of a sudden he got a scowl on his face and said in a rather loud voice, “Grandpa, those are NOT real cops. Why are they wearing uniforms? They should not do that.” Well that was hard to explain and I was hoping “they” did not hear what he said. We left rapidly.

I guess he thought they were not acting the way officers should act. At least not like the COOL guys at the boat. I suppose that comes from trying to instill respect in the uniform of peace officers. The lesson is one each of us needs to remember. If we say we are (fill in the blank) then we had better act the part or we can lead an impressionable young mind astray. So lets be COOL.

That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

I stripped the branches,
Debarked the limbs
Like peeling sunburnt skin
On the chest high grassy plains.
There's a nest in the crotch of our tree
With umbilical vines detached and green;
I check to see if my bellybutton
Is missing, just like Eve's.
I see that mine's an Outie,
Still connected to the trees.

I remember it all,
that feeling,
right from the start,
dreadful to say the least –
you call yourself a friend,
and stab with envy,
not once, not twice,
but umpteen,
A liar who calls names,
A maniac who finds peace in it,
A cheat with a thirst for attention,
A freak who hasn’t yet realized —
you own none & never will,
A nefarious who under the pretense of help
expects *******.
Don’t you see, don’t you descry–
I see it all,
the evilness behind the smirk,
the cabal behind the kind gesture,
the mask behind which you hide the whole caboodle.
Today as it slips wide in the open,
I pity you,
I loathe you as you feel superior in other’s melancholy,
my tears don’t signify my weakness,
they ratify my regret of ever knowing you.
my tears don’t imply I lost my fight to you,
they justify your ignominy in the name of friendship.
my tears don’t involve you calling names,
for they anguish staying silent,
and not unmasking you sooner.
For you presuming otherwise,
is just mocking your own morale.
As you try to get closer,
I drift further,
as you push me to the edge,
I pick taking a fall,
than stay with you up there.
I feel sorry, you don’t yet realize,
you dug your own slump,
It was time people knew the real you,
It was time I realize my reticence was worth it,
It was time when truth won over myth,
It was time you debarked to where you started,
It was time you would see, what you have done all this while,
to hurt none but yourself,
and lived nothing but a lie.