Lloyd

(written with generous assistance from Virginia)

Having broken through your fences
As a young man and decided then
To face the facts and build
Tall constructions representing
How the world behind your eyes
Was organized, supported,
Made to last and standing proud
And beautiful, you could say
You had a hand in that one,
Found materials and hired
Those thousand faces who in labor
Took the pains and paychecks home
Like you, to all your children,
Patti, Laurie, Ginny and Robert,
And their mother who you chose
To make the journey with
And held on to as long as you could.
Dining room table stacked with
Blueprints, yellow legal pads,
In your engineer's hand
Plans of To Do, to do and to do.
There were summers on the Cape
The calendar precision.
Who were you keeping safe
With the stones that came out of
The excavation, placed into a wall
No vacation this, but a sanctuary
For those whom you loved.
And up above, the garden
Was waiting for your journey to end.
Keeping things out, keeping things in,
Trying to contain the chaos,
Trying to protect the innocence,
Doing what you knew,
Working hard, the man I never knew.
But I have found your daughter fair
And folded into our lives your
Legacy, your primacy, your passing
Does not change your lasting
Contribution to the love we feel,
It's time to grow and heal,
Within these walls of stone.
Lloyd, you were never alone.

(the 12th and final lyrical poem in the RainingHorse song cycle; album to be released in June 2014)