Earth day 2026 - April 22 coincides...,
where first born daughter of mine
pledged/plighted her respective troth
a small number of years ago
with E_ S_, a Puerto Rican native
who lived in the same coed dormitory
after she matriculated
at University of Pennsylvania.
The attraction mutual between them
where they ofttimes frolicked in the autumn mist
which unknowingly segued into courtship
as the weeks, months and years,
where time keeps on slippin\', slippin\', slippin\'
into the future at a more brisk pace
as father time nowhere near ready
to stop the carousel of time
where painted ponies go up and down.
As a neutral witness
to their affection for each other
both star students
investing prodigious amounts of renewable energy
into a promising friendship linkedin by bonafide
selflessness for the other,
and unbridled grief
nearly wrought asunder
steely mettle of two healthy human beings
which evolved courtesy
across many semesters
plus enduring trials and tribulations
and particularly being sorely tested
linkedin with the tragedy of death
after her paternal zayda
(how I felt envious smart as a cookie
child of mine
bonding with intelligent
as a whip me daddy)
a polymath and mentor with some
of her math and science courses
cause he spent better part of his life
gainfully employed as a mechanical engineer
at General Electric Aerospace division
before (me papa) succumbed
to the grim reaper
when hospice care
could not longer stave off
recurring prolonged detrimental bouts
incessantly taxing the body of a nonagenarian
disallowing him to recover fully after ever
progressively worsening episodes
stumping and impeding convalescence,
thus found father giving up the ghost
from congestive heart failure
on October 7th, 2000,
which death though imminent,
nevertheless palpable loss
did buzzfeed sadness.
Despite severe adversity
during her living years
between 2000 - 2012?,
she (in tandem with younger sister -
approximately twenty six months her junior)
weathered unrelenting domestic hardship
(No NOT violence)
such that Children and Youth Services (CYS) ,
paid us a number of visits
cause rumors circulated
by persons unknown reached the
county-level public agency
and admonished us
for being negligent parents,
whereat the eldest more or less forced to rely
on her own survival skills,
fostering more of a maternal role
between she and S_),
and ofttimes methinks
the impact this father left
upon an impressionable offspring
(me, who she frequently
addressed as sir)
unintentionally wrought volatile emotions
particularly as das dada
strayed from the sacred covenant
of his marriage to thee wife
versus those pleasant memories
of birth when I kindled
an omnipotent bond
and not surprising subsequently
invited a more apropos hashtag
for a daddy\'s girl,
which dependence on me
came to a shattering cessation
during childhood\'s end (hers)
when we needed to vacate
the premises (courtesy Nelson Swartley -
the realtor) at Spring Mount Condominiums
which facility within walking distance
to where yours truly
and the missus currently live.
That severe trial strained
to the breaking point and did wrench
when we overstayed our welcome
at 1148 Greentree Lane
a rift developed rivaling
that of the Mariana Trench
an emotional cataclysm
impacted an irrevocable strain
the fall out forced me
to relinquish the appellation of mensch
(a person of integrity and honor)
did destroy now a body doth lain
supine and broken -
that dog awful
burning in hell the rot and stench
thus...I cannot escape
memories of squalid conditions
impossible mission to escape.
Some wedding well wishing referencing
with absolute zero privilege
of being gifted with two precious charges,
that appalling decade plus
and driving a figurative wedge
where parental absenteeism,
(albeit emotional, financial,
nutritional) found thee
and S_ living a life analogous
teetering on the ledge
forced to take flight
out of the figurative nest
into an abyss way
before hope without feathers to fledge
allowed, enabled and provided
the ways and means,
thus thee did wing it and suck it up,
when forced off the edge of night,
where dark shadows
presaged the outer limits
of the twilight zone.
The indelible aforementioned living nightmare
uncoupled the former robust vibrant rapport
when outings to the local playgrounds
warranted yours truly
to experience self importance
when either progeny clamored
for me to push them on the swing
while the missus stayed home
(in a manner of speaking -
cause the mother of our
deux beautiful daughters
stayed behind and spent hours
at her stint watching television -
which entertainment medium
axed after the flat screen conked out),
and now the spouse
stays up all hours
into the wee following morning
of the morrow
bingeing on various programs
accessible thru Google)
while I re-enact the role
of being a quasi Norwegian farmer bachelor
baking a batch of Powder Milk biscuits
cause heavens they tasted savory
and brought back fond memories
of living a carefree life
in Lake Wobegone, Minnesota
\"Well, that’s the news
from Lake Wobegon,
where all the women are strong,
all the men are good-looking,
and all the children are above average”.