There is a more gruesome side of life
Or rather, there is life.
There is an up
And
There is a down.
Like the heaving chest of triathlete
Throbbing up and down
Like the pounding feet against the asphalt
Ticking off mile after mile
Like the steady streamline of a swimmers momentum
Breaking with each stroke
Just like life.
But so often you ride the crest of the wave
And when it begins to break beneath its own weight
Suddenly
You gasp for air.
Like a disappearing commodity
You struggle and contort and persevere
In raging blindness
And instead,
You swallow up a mouth full bitterness hate sorrow and self-pity
And spit it out when the calm returns
Only to find
That the water left when it was spewed away,
But, My Dear,
And it’s a “but” of much dismay,
But My Dear, I do regret
The bitterness, hate, sorrow, and self-pity
You failed to spew.
And now,
Now life is miserable to you.
But, I know how it goes.
We both do.
We both know that after a while
The bitterness and hate and sorrow and self-pity
Will fade from your mouth,
And your lips will curl into the slightest smile
But I fear, and you know all too well
Each time the wave breaks
You become more immune
You become more accustomed
And eventually it will just linger on,
And you and I know
Just how dangerous it is
Because you wont even recognize
That you are infected.
And the bitterness and hate and sorrow and self-pity
Will become the only taste you know
So be careful my dear
Those once sweet lips
Have become bittersweet
And I fear the hour
When all that’s left
Is bitterness.

Getting out of bed is my marathon
Shall I put a sticker on my car?
26.2 steps.
My body is the weight of iron.
Combined with brushing
My hair and teeth
I am a triathlete.

There is a place
Where a man resides
Early to everything
Because early is on time
He may have left soon
But he’s waiting at the gate
At the front of the line
Because on time is late

The gates swing open
And he is admitted
They let him in because
They knew all he did

His passion unmatched,
Rivaled by everyone
He stood up for what he wanted
Never backed down for anyone

He had much pride
For his wife and two daughters
A triathlete, an artist,
And a student with honors

He never ceased to give
Back to his community
Would help a neighbor out
At literally any opportunity

Talk about the funniest guy
You’ve ever met—
I keep thinking the jokes
Can’t get better, yet
In my head he’ll walk right through that door, do his victory dance, laughing, rolling on the floor.
And I know he won’t, but if you think that the last you’ve seen of him was on January 9th, 2019 at 6:18pm then you are sadly mistaken.
If you think he’s done with all of you then you underestimate him.
Because he will be there through thick and thin,
To see all of us lose and win,
To see us fall but still keep kicking.
My father was an orderly man who enjoyed having a schedule and this little set back did not set him back at all.
His New Years resolution was to spend more time with his family and he plans to do just that with all this time on his hands.

There is a place
Where a man resides
Ready to listen to
All our goodbyes
But his trick is
He’s got plans to drop by
Early to the gate
So he’ll be on time.