22 poets read from SGVPQ 53

Joseph Gardner

One Of These Days

It’s been 3 years now
since you passed.
You'd've been 62 today...
We had always talked about doing it
for years upon years
and it was always one of these days.
And we sincerely meant it
a solemn vow between us
We talked about doing it
at Dennys; the morning I left for the Army
We talked about it
in the backyard the first time I got married
and it was still one of these days.
It was when going through my first divorce
you and I
took your little red Toyota pick up to the Kern River
fishing poles in back.
it was a hot July
not even the mosquitos were biting...
you taught me to drive a stick shift
we talked for hours under beautiful stars
passing smoke around the campfire...
and for one weekend
it was one of those days
we finally did it...
we were father and son.