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Open Poetry #49
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JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana

0 posted 2016-07-14 05:28 PM


Can't recall posting this here . . . So . . . An old one . . .

Big rig driver made a stop that cold night,
To top off with diesel and eat a bite,
Headed to El Paso with a full load,
On a south Texas dreary mountain road.

She stood to the side of the cafe's door,
He averted eyes, thought of her no more.
After his meal, he drank a cup of joe,
He drank the coffee and paid what he owed.

She was still there, bent against the cold wind,
"Please, Mister," she said, "I just need a friend."
He did a double take; she was with child,
A desperate soul as she tried to smile.

He loaded her up inside his warm cab,
She said, "Thank you," and her stomach she grabbed.
He went back inside for something to eat,
She gobbled it up and said aren't you sweet.

Now that she was there, what was he to do?
He timidly asked her when are you due?
She said there was no family or friends,
No one in the world for her to depend.

In the mountain range of Guadalupe,
Her labor began, she asked him to pray.
He pulled off the road and shut the rig down,
It was much too far to get to a town.

The baby was coming, it would not wait,
Into the sleeper awaiting her fate,
He tried to help, but it was just his luck,
They were both stuck out there in his old truck.

The blood soaked everything, even her screams,
There was no water, not even a stream.
The baby came and mother died on cue,
How he got through it all he never knew.

He held the squealing, bloody baby girl,
And something inside him started to swirl.
The babe started out, the odds against her,
The blood-spattered child was only a cur.

In El Paso he made all the right stops,
Hospital for child, and they called the cops.
Mother buried in potter's field so sad,
He claimed the child, saying he was her dad.

©July 27, 2009 / Jerry Pat Bolton

© Copyright 2016 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
Ari Squire
Member
Posts 488
In The Phallus Lane
1 posted 2016-07-15 12:07 PM


In the end, the old boy did the noble thing. There could be more truth than fiction in your poetry Jerry, albeit a sad truth. Somehow it seems obscene to say I enjoyed reading it...but I know you understand what I mean.
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
2 posted 2016-07-15 01:27 PM


Of course I understand, Ari, and I thank you very much in this late comment on your response to my poem.

~ If they give you ruled paper, write sideways. ~

Redstart
Senior Member
since 2014-05-16
Posts 535

3 posted 2016-07-18 05:26 PM


If the world was as noble, we'd sleep easy in our beds. Touching tale.
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
4 posted 2016-07-18 05:32 PM


Thank you, Redstart. I wholeheartedly agree with your comments . . .

~ If they give you ruled paper, write sideways. ~

jjote
Senior Member
since 2002-12-25
Posts 1088
Ontario, Canada
5 posted 2016-07-18 06:11 PM


that's being a Good Samaritan, and claiming the child for his own is so noble. Lucky baby, heartbreaking tale.
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
6 posted 2016-07-18 06:14 PM


Thanks jjote, I liked the way I finished the poem. I have begun a novel where the baby, a girl, is now fourteen years old . . . I hope I can finish it before I expire. Heh.Heh

~ If they give you ruled paper, write sideways. ~

JL
Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128
Texas, USA
7 posted 2016-07-19 01:28 PM


You did post this here before.  But the re-read was as delightful as the first time.

Very nice, my friend.

JL

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Maranatha!

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
8 posted 2016-07-19 01:33 PM


Yeah, I thought I had posted it before, and I looked pretty far back and didn't see it. Oh well, thanks for the kind words, JL . . .

~ If they give you ruled paper, write sideways. ~

DaysofView
Member
since 2014-04-01
Posts 433
Just A Slice Of The Pie
9 posted 2016-07-19 05:54 PM


Your poem is tragic, but I think the way it all turned out was fine. You write such good stories Jerrypat. Is this a true story from your life?

If I were more than I am, I'd see things differently instead of the same all the time.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
10 posted 2016-07-19 06:27 PM


No it is not a true story, DV. I don't know where a lot of my poems/stories come from. They just appear in my thoughts and away I go. Thank you very much for your continuous support. Some of the poems I write are, however, very much true, those would be the ones where I write about my two lost decades on the mean streets of America.

~ If they give you ruled paper, write sideways. ~

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