questions of potential
haunt the mourners of this boy
Snowflake Bentley's namesake
could he have produced paintings
that might hang in the museum of art
or design an airport internationale
a peaceful bridge too far
a launch pad to the milky way
who knows, could he have hit 800 home runs
after all, he was so much younger than Shelley
when the water pulled him under
what about such prolific possibility
Shakespeare
Lennon and McCartney
Solzhenitsyn
Marco Polo or Stephen Hawking
why question genius
while we hold the proof in our hands
maybe, to let us off the hook
so we could say
no one could have done all that
what could my father have done
had life been different
had his desire raged at another god
had his muse spoken with more promise
but he did not waste his life being who he was
he did what he could
no manuscripts, no tome to show his wisdom
no invention to ease our burden
no compound to ease our pain
no perfect poem
(just
three good sons)
here we are
this soup of genetics
different hopes, fears
and dreams
he left behind
lives lived with his imprint on our souls
that is no small thing
Barry DeCarli
March 05, 2010
Revised June 17, 2011 & March 7, 2013,
August 1, 2014
Copyright 2010 Barry DeCarli
