Being 16 and free,
living on the sailboat
with my Dad and brother.
I was rocked to sleep
by the gentle
waves in the marina.
Just being...the wonderful
verb of youth,
Bills came in,
Dad would say, "They can kill us,
but they can't eat us."
We'd laugh and peel
up the Pacific coast Highway
to the track,
Hollywood Park or Santa Anita,
to bet on the horses.
We'd dope the racing form;
Get chili dogs.
Dad would give us
money to bet with.
I saw some of the
best horses ever:
Secretariat
Affirmed
John Henry
Bates Motel
We saw the greatest jockeys too.
William Shoemaker
Liffit Pincay
Eddie D.
Our tiny heroes.
The thunder of the
hooves coming down the
homestretch still echoes
inside of me.
Dad always said, "winners buy dinner, "
but he always paid.
We stopped at this
steak place on the
edge of L.A.
It was dark; they had the best
Fillet Mignon, you cut it
with a spoon.
The sun sank into the blazing
ocean, and with the windows rolled
down, we could taste the salt
in the air.
-
Author:
Thomas W Case (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: October 22nd, 2023 00:14
- Comment from author about the poem: Great memories from childhood. Please check out my new book, Seedy Town Blues Collected Poems, it's available on Amazon.
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 34
- User favorite of this poem: Teddy.15.
Offline)
Comments13
Good write T. Ahh, there you are!
Thank you.
The second poem was specially powerful to me. Glad to hear your reading…The Los Angeles references are special too.
Thank you
They come together as one very beautiful piece of poetic reflection. Loved the appreciation for the steak brought back memories of my childhood down to the air. Gorgeous. ❤️
Thank you.
it makes you long for California !
yes
"Always lots of stuff, always lots of things" "Shits lots of shits"--- that one was my favorite!!!
Thank you Liz
Great memories thanks for sharing them
And when we see such champions we never forget
Thank you
another gem Thomas
Thank you, I appreciate it.
The Triple Crowns , how fucking awesome. The way Secretariat was hands down and lengths to spare in that Preakness might be similar to the quality of your pieces. Props!
Thank you, it was good times. we saw Citation too.
Captivating poetry .. ink well spilt .. Neville
Captivating poetry .. ink well spilt .. Neville
Thank you.
What a beautiful poem
Thank you so much.
Nice write! I grew up around a racetrack, so I love the ponies! And, there is nothing better than being on the water...even if it's just in the marina! Ah...memories!
Yes, for sure. Thank you.
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