Poem: Reminiscence – wp.krigline.com

by Michael Krigline. www.krigline.com ⇔

I have not written many poems like this one. (Most of my poetry ends up as songs!) This exception was inspired by a “memory flash” triggered on a bus in Beijing, when I was teaching English there in 1987. My dad and I didn’t become “close knit” until after I was away from home at college. I guess I finally grew up enough to realize what treasures God had given me for parents. (I’ve long appreciated this quote from Mark Twain: “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in 7 years.”)

I originally posted this poem in honor of my dad’s birthday, and secondly, as an example of poetry for my students. Now that my father has entered Eternity, it serves as a reminder of how precious family relationships and memories are.

Reminiscence

Connections…
Moved by a peanut still in its shell
to a day
a dad
Thirty thousand miles and fifteen years back in time.
“How do they get these things salty without opening them?”
I can’t recall his answer.
The sound of the shell splitting
signals
the crack of the bat
the roar of the crowd
the fragrance of the freshly roasted nuts
forever a favorite
of a father
taking time
to make a memory.
Close knit? not really
making such memories even more memorable.
He was often too busy
I too often disinterested
–being different from my dad.
As time and travel take their toll
which childhood treasures
continue to touch and temper my life?
Not the tons of toys
closets of clothes
multitude of meals
abundance of advice
so much as the days, the hours,
simply shared
loving life
sharing sunshine,
smiles,
and sometimes
a pound of peanuts.

Michael Krigline, April 9, 1987 (Beijing)