image from italia.it.com
From Calabria
‘Not every father gets a chance to start his son off
in his own footsteps.”--Alan Ladd.
Midnight, June 14th, 2019. I sit alone in the
darkness, weeping.
“My heavy heart has developed helium stanchions.
My disabled feet have new ankle wings. My troubled
soul is now mantled in rainbows. My DNA is no longer
lost, it now has the gift of a musty helix map. My
malevolent curiosity has slain no one. My quest has
ended with treasure. My inexorable inquiries have
born blossoms. My lungs fill with Mediterranean
love mist.
My father, 25 years post-mortem, has reached out
from beyond the stars to hug me with his dead arms,
to embrace me with his dead lips, to recognize me
with his dead eyes, for, it turns out, I am his first
born son--whom he was aware of, but never met.
I have spent 74 years weighed down with ignorance.
plagued with dark doubts--but for my birthday, the
universe and Ancestry.com filled in the blank over
“biological father” with the most wonderful of names,
Frank Herman Pellegrino.
Glenn Buttkus
Soliloquy
Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub
13 comments:
I am glad you found the name of your father. I like your description "Mediterranean
love mist" and the description of your father reaching out to you.
Wow! Both to the poem and its content.
I love how the fruit of your search (an apple from the tree of knowledge?) brought your body to life. The buoyancy and how you describe it lifts my spirit as well. So happy you learned what you were seeking, Glenn.
This is amazing Glenn! I've read that many have learned so much from Ancestry.com....and 23 and Me....some wonderful news and for some, shocking news. This must have been so powerful as you read their report. Your writing here is illustrative of the emotions you felt/feel. An amazing write...and an amazing story you've shared.
Thank you for sharing a very personal story, Glenn. A name! After 74 years! Wow. No doubt a life-long question answered. Blessings.
That is an amazing story. It must be wonderful to finally have a name connection.
What a wonderful experience! Such a gift.
This is a great heartfelt poem of being lost and found... life and death. Very well done Glenn
What a wonderful discovery, Glenn, and your biological father does indeed have a wonderful name, my favourite natural mineral water from Italy! I love the lines:
‘My father, 25 years post-mortem, has reached out
from beyond the stars to hug me with his dead arms,
to embrace me with his dead lips, to recognize me
with his dead eyes…’
I’m not surprised your heavy heart ‘developed helium stanchions’ and your soul is ‘mantled in rainbows’.
Thank you for sharing such a personal story.
Great poem, Glenn, full of emotion. It's a good name to inherit.
I love how you have found his name, and how he has reached out to you... despite the fact that he left you all those years ago. What a wonderful name to find.
What a gift to receive after such a long search...such weight in a name and family connection! Glad you feel his embrace, as only a poet can.
One is never too old to want to know... I loved this and the tender emotions you shared. I'm happy for you.
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