April 9th, 2024 would be ninety fifth birthday poem for dearly departed papa

The following words crafted soon after the soul of me daddy set adrift into the empyrean realm joining the rank and file of entities constituting spiritus mundi.

Borne aloft into the netherland
the body bearing thee soul

of Boyce Brandon Harris
birth name given to my late father
buoyed into the great beyond
united with spirit
of mine late mother Harriet,
whose passing well nigh nineteen
orbitz of the earth around the sun.

 

Elysian fields embraced dada's soul

which rocketed into aerospace

(courtesy General Electric satellite)

just a tadpole more than three

earth orbitz and a half years ago,
when venerated, loved,
and celebrated then nonagenarian
on par with jumping frog
of calaveras county,
(whose captor disguised
as toad tilly grim reaper)

went a courtin for fresh corpse,

nevertheless melancholy

still plucks mine heart strings.

 

Mine psyche still situated awry

placid countenance of yours truly doth belie

residual sadness easily prompted

can easily trigger me to cry

linkedin when grim reaper gloated

October 7th, 2020,

he did somewhat peacefully die
(courtesy congestive heart failure),

though methinks immortality

I did briefly espy,

when miracles of modern medicine

tried, but could not

stave off mortality nor fortify

depredations of aging concerning

one (back during his boyhood)

a wunderkind, whose accomplishments
evinced a lad who pulled out all the stops

laudatory when a young handsome guy,

whose intelligence scored high

native talent aptitude tests did imply,
an august presence
his person, especially birthday celebrated,

lorded over, regaled and touted
like fourth of July
completely unlike yours truly
pitifully jejune existence well nigh.

 

The late polymath and scientifically astute
Boyce Brandon Harris

exhibited prolific talents at young age

aside being scholastically gifted,

acquiring graduate degree

courtesy Columbia University,

freshly minted mechanical engineer,

(he admirably ranked within

uppermost percentile academically),

I hashtag thy mine deceased father

(a Renaissance man

- jack-of-all-trades),

who possessed (née excelled)

at diverse creative abilities.

 

Aside from being schooled

as mechanical engineer,

(which courses in mathematics and science

he passed with flying colors)

his mind genetically bequeathed

to craft almost anything under the sun

evidenced first by yours truly,

the second offspring and sole son

who ofttimes felt intimidated

at being in presence

of said versatile person.

 

Handicrafts included

expending blood, sweat, and tears
coercing, fabricating, invoking
earth, wind, and fire elements of style

to craft multitude of projects;

i. building me Flintstone (foot powered)
car with wooden license plate

ii. making playhouse for all three
of us - his progeny;
iii. amassing wood pile(s)

to stoke wood burning stoves;

iv. designing Zayda trail

for Teddy and Ruff
(two doggone mixed breed Border Collies

 

rescued courtesy youngest sister

at her Jacobsburg,

Pennsylvania work site);

v. constructing sauna in cellar;

vi. etching, detailing (al fresco);

vii. plus trimming living room ceiling
with dainty crown moulding;

 

viii. shingling (while fiddling) on the roof;

ix. tiling the kitchen floor;

x. building a cistern for brethren,

xi. wood paneling many rooms;

xii. building custom made toy chest;

xiii. stringing up lights to increase visibility

driveway lit like Christmas tree after dark;

 

xiv. partly assembled a kayak;
xv. Rehabilitated derelict houses
in Norristown, Pennsylvania

xvi. retooling - enhancing porch

with tiles (formerly slate covered),

where Morris dancers performed

at wedding for eldest sister.

 

Unlike him who did beget me,

I experienced cognitive challenges

that beset one painfully shy

and severely introverted male

more to the point

as a lad and mediocre student to boot

promotion to next highest grade

occurred just by the skin of my teeth
and analogously, figuratively, and poetically
nearly shaved née scalped,
butchered of me pilgrim's pride

thankfully peach fuzz bewhiskered
fine hairs of my chinny chin chin,

staved off retention

never forcing me to repeat a grade,

which may help to explain

why I wear dentures,

oh... these choppers
then worn for about

one eighth of mein kampf livingsocial.

 

A sense of inadequacy prevailed,

when absolute zero self esteem

strikingly and suddenly manifested

in tandem when parents moved

their young tender family within

Lower Providence School District,

but into a vaunted larger house

(initial summer estate constituted

about one hundred acres of woodland -

named Glen Elm

think Winnie the Pooh -

house at Pooh corner).

 

Not quite two score plus ten years

spent livingsocial at 324 Level Road

(above mentioned abode alluded),

and twas there majority

mine existential highs and lows,

where nadir of mein kampf transpired,

I emotionally hit rock bottom

upon onset of prepubescence

yet major event triggering

mine major depression

set in motion,

when parents chose February 28th, 1968

to move out of shoddily constructed domicile

located on Lantern Lane.

 

As shared with Renee Cardone,

(the therapist whose virtual sessions

linkedin courtesy Doxy.me portal -

similar to Zoom),

that aforementioned date

marked a turning point

after which time, I floundered

experienced irrevocable mental health issues

punctuating my psychological equilibrium

with chronic distress,

though I forgive father and mother,

who unwittingly made decision
how uprooting their offspring
to move without consulting
either yours truly, or older

and younger sisterly sibling.