On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me

5 Comments

Tags:
  • And Children
    • ,
  • Life
    • ,
  • Sex
    • ,
  • Love

    Poem Commentary

    "It is better to be hated for who you are, than loved for who you are not." --Kurt Cobain

    On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me
    My glories mix with failures,
    That burn like dust--
    Dust that smites my eyes, dust blown by the desert wind.
    My main mark has not been made before I end,
    In this wild whirling world of love and lust.
    Ghost-written works, unlikely to be uncovered as my own;
    But still, under my own name, there is enough of my flame
    To catch fire in the world, and show my light from a growing great blaze.
    After I end, then.  Little for me, before I die.  I live poor, and lonely for a lady, until then.
    Unless I find new feminine love, who can love me as I now am--to give me love again--
    I must feel unloved, unpleasured, lonely, lonesome--a man without a woman--so alone.
    -----------------------
    My healthful days are gone--as soon I must.
    I yearned to have a son--to be his friend--
    To share my values in his values' blend.
    My once wife defeated that dream, with my unborn child's end.
    I still grieve.  I hope for love, somehow, at life's crumbling crust.
    But time has taught me only tombs to trust.
    -----------------------
    I learned my baby was a son, my son that iron fate took to destroy.
    So I lost my only child before he could be born to my loving gaze.
    And yet--perhaps I had a son, a born and living son, in the past;
    When my nephew Anthony and I shared special days,
    My sister's son, whom, in his earliest years of life, I helped to raise.
    From when he was a baby, till he became a precious little boy.
    -----------------------
    My heart's deep dreams are lost; 
    I am now treated as if my life were as worthless as a cheap broken toy.
    Yet I'm kept alive at a price I cannot long keep paying, a crippling cost.
    But I am happy to know I did have a son, a living son, in my life's past.
    For Anthony, who grew up, oh, so fast--
    To become a good young man, who became a new glad father--
    Chose--not his father's name--but my name, rather--
    Saying I was more a father to him than anyone else; and, to make that last,
    He honored me with memory and praise,
    To give his son my name, to my great joy.

    =============================================


    Written by Michael LP
    aka MLP, aka Mr. Poet, aka PoetWithCancer, aka PWC
    (I'm just me)
    Copyright (C) 2010 by Michael L.P.  All rights reserved.

    Poem Comments

    (5)

    Please login or register

    You must be logged in or register a new account in order to
    leave comments/feedback and rate this poem.

    Login or Register

    lunamarie commented on On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me

    10-21-2010

    .......... this poem ... is one of the best poems I have ever read ... I have no words ..............................
    Reply to Comment

    arronpalmer commented on On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me

    10-20-2010

    So so frank and touching is your admission to your disdain at life, or the tribulations of it (possibly a scandalous understatement to someone in your circumstance, but I trust you know where I'm coming from), robbing you of a chance to become what you are no doubt to your nephew, who clearly idolises you, to a son of your own. But a Father is more than flesh and blood. It is the love, the care, the sacrifices made in the interest of a child. Things you no doubt did to/for your nephew. A Father isn't ever forgotten, especially if another generation bears his name. I think you are more a father than most could claim to be.
    Reply to Comment

    abuelita1 commented on On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me

    10-19-2010

    Your nephew and his son are both blessed by having you in their lives. What an honor to be named after you. ;)
    Reply to Comment

    arronpalmer commented on On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me

    10-19-2010

    I love this, but I have left a more detailed comment in reply to your comment you left on my profile. I didn't want to simply copy and paste. A ten from me.
    Reply to Comment

    abuelita1 commented on On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me

    10-16-2010

    Your words are as cherished as you are to any. Oh, lucky is the woman to have you.
    Reply to Comment

    In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite.

    Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech writer.

    PoetWithCancer’s Poems (224)

    Title Comments Submitted
    Title Comments Submitted
    Happy Winter Solstice 1 12/22/2013
    Seasonal Ring 1 10/17/2013
    My Thanksgiving 0 12/07/2012
    God's Word 1 11/29/2012
    Under the Date Tree 1 11/10/2012
    A Few More Times 1 10/23/2012
    Divine and Diabolical World 0 10/23/2012
    Summer-Brief 2 10/12/2012
    Seasonal Ring 0 10/01/2012
    Shakespeare's Birthday and Death 0 04/30/2012
    Special Brian 0 03/19/2012
    I Remember Brian 0 03/07/2012
    Light of Life 0 02/23/2012
    Pain Has Defeated Me Today 1 01/25/2012
    The Old, Old Words 0 01/25/2012
    Home Is Where the Heart Is 0 01/25/2012
    A Sad Contemplative Christmas Today 0 12/25/2011
    Moments of Memory; In Memory of Moments 0 12/19/2011
    Sun and Rain, Joy and Pain: I Miss My Friend Brian 0 12/18/2011
    Dehumanized and Clinicized--N
    OT    		 1 12/14/2011
    Not Full 0 12/09/2011
    Love, Loss, and Lennon 0 12/07/2011
    Dying Dream 0 12/05/2011
    Brian's Pure Love for His Lady 0 12/02/2011
    Two Loved Ladies Undergoing Surgery Now 0 11/30/2011
    The Masks Fall Off at Midnight 1 11/28/2011
    Prime of Life 1 11/28/2011
    Low Energy and Less Time: And Too Many Things to Do 1 11/28/2011
    Happy Veterans Day, Brian 0 11/28/2011
    Happy Veterans Day, Brian 0 11/28/2011
    Thanksgiving 0 11/23/2011
    Autumn of Year; Autumn of Life 0 10/19/2011
    Brian's Birthday and New Year's Eve 0 09/15/2011
    Under a Constant Star (9/11) 0 09/11/2011
    Deep Time 0 07/29/2011
    Is There Anything Out There 2 07/25/2011
    Classics in the Closet 0 06/04/2011
    Nobody 0 06/03/2011
    Feeling the Wind 0 06/01/2011
    The Wild Doe and the Hunter 0 05/30/2011
    Happy Birthday, Brian 0 05/27/2011
    The End of the World: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 6 pm PDT 1 05/22/2011
    Brian's Special Smile 0 05/19/2011
    Broken Birth 0 05/19/2011
    Missing Brian 0 05/17/2011
    Focus: Today, Happy 0 05/15/2011
    I Love You, Brian 0 05/14/2011
    The Ways and the Words of You 1 05/01/2011
    Stone Cry 0 04/28/2011
    Amore Immortale 0 04/28/2011
    Reality and Unreality 1 04/26/2011
    Lyrical Life 1 04/25/2011
    Easter 0 04/24/2011
    Shakespeare's Birthday 0 04/24/2011
    Friends During Need 1 04/21/2011
    Death--A Play--or the Final Act 0 04/21/2011
    Moods 0 04/19/2011
    I Was Worried About You 0 04/15/2011
    Song of Life 2 04/08/2011
    Me 1 04/07/2011
    Oh Mother of My Life, My Mind, My Heart--Happy Birthday (Sunday, April 3, 2011) 0 04/07/2011
    Your Money or Your Life 1 04/06/2011
    Poesis 0 04/06/2011
    A Last Look at the Moon 0 04/05/2011
    Tears for Brian: My Tears Spring Suddenly 0 03/28/2011
    Seventeen in the Past 1 03/23/2011
    Clusters 1 03/23/2011
    Suffering and Dying Where Love Is Least 1 03/21/2011
    Looking at People in a Restaurant, Talking to Brian 1 03/16/2011
    Brian Cannot Come Back to Me 3 03/13/2011
    Seven for Heaven: Human Haiku/Senryu, On Two Straight Guys Who Loved Each Other 3 02/26/2011
    Five Human Haiku (Senryu): Faithful to the Perfect Form 0 02/24/2011
    The Scream 3 02/22/2011
    Life Is 8 02/11/2011
    Following My Friend 3 02/09/2011
    Small Moments (Written by Patricia, for Brian) 1 02/09/2011
    For Precious Michael (Written by Patricia, for me) 4 02/09/2011
    Dream of Life, Dream of Friendship, Dream of Love 4 02/05/2011
    The Power to Create 4 01/26/2011
    A Single Fortune Cookie 6 01/23/2011
    The Meaning of Life 2 01/09/2011
    Dreamless 3 01/09/2011
    Prayers 3 01/09/2011
    Lost Love 2 01/07/2011
    I Thank My Mother for My Birthday and for Her Wonderful Mother Love 3 01/02/2011
    Lennon Lost His Life: And Now, So Has Teena Marie 2 12/27/2010
    All the Way with Part Way 2 12/25/2010
    Loving, Living, and Dying 6 12/19/2010
    Dreaming and Seeming 3 12/19/2010
    Poem Prayer 2 12/18/2010
    Science, Poetry, Philosophy, and More 2 12/17/2010
    Super A, Abuelita1--Th
    ank You for Your Support, Caring Love, and Understanding    		 2 12/15/2010
    Wonderful Connie 1 12/15/2010
    Someday-Dying 2 12/15/2010
    Between Yes and No 3 12/14/2010
    Love of Life 1 12/13/2010
    Zappa the Magnificent 1 12/13/2010
    In the Midst of Life 2 12/12/2010
    Only One Death 1 12/12/2010
    Real Illusion 1 12/12/2010
    The Unknown 1 12/12/2010
    My Apparently Known Possible Fates in This World 1 12/12/2010
    No More Me 2 12/11/2010
    Someone 2 12/11/2010
    Leaving Life 1 12/11/2010
    Precious Jade 2 12/11/2010
    Fear and Grief and Going: Unguilty of the Grave 1 12/11/2010
    Using and Losing Time 1 12/10/2010
    Loveless Life 2 12/09/2010
    Good Life, Good Grief 1 12/09/2010
    Dreamless 1 12/09/2010
    Ontology versus Oncology 1 12/09/2010
    Now Time 2 12/08/2010
    No Present, No Future: All Past 3 12/08/2010
    Hippocratic Hell 1 12/08/2010
    First Light 2 12/08/2010
    Almost At the Limit [--A Sonnet] 1 12/08/2010
    Death-Trap 0 12/08/2010
    Broken 1 12/08/2010
    Birthday Termination 1 12/04/2010
    Moments 1 12/04/2010
    First and Last Cry 1 12/04/2010
    Love 2 12/02/2010
    Final Fragility 1 12/01/2010
    End of the World 1 12/01/2010
    Tripping 1 12/01/2010
    Seasonal Ring 1 11/30/2010
    Gifts that Go and Still Stay 1 11/29/2010
    Sidney Says: Advice to Poets and All Writers 3 11/29/2010
    Enthusiasm: God Within 3 11/29/2010
    Send Me Your Good Will, or Pray For Me--Please 1 11/29/2010
    Feeling Each Other's Pain 1 11/29/2010
    Snow Man for a Low Man 0 11/29/2010
    Explanation of My Poem "As If the Last" 2 11/29/2010
    New Year, No Love 2 11/29/2010
    Poetic Form 0 11/28/2010
    Guilty Pleasures: Not Guilty 2 11/28/2010
    About Me 1 11/28/2010
    Live, Laugh, and Love 4 11/27/2010
    Nothing Special 2 11/27/2010
    Why a Writer Writes 2 11/27/2010
    To Sarah Y and Her Beloved Little Boy Who Cries Out: Again! 1 11/27/2010
    I and You: Unique and the Same 1 11/26/2010
    Where's the Compasssion in Our Health Care System? 0 11/26/2010
    Lonely Girl, I'm Feeling the Way You're Feeling: But We Can Both Make It Through 3 11/26/2010
    Health-Care Reform and Hell on Earth 3 11/26/2010
    Psyche 3 11/25/2010
    My Bucket List (For Now) 4 11/25/2010
    My Most SCARED Moments 2 11/25/2010
    Children of the Stars 2 11/23/2010
    Passing Life's Test 1 11/23/2010
    Why More Now? 1 11/23/2010
    Remembering My Grandma on Thanksgiving Eve 3 11/23/2010
    Another Thursday, Another Hammer 4 11/23/2010
    Thursday's Hammer 1 11/23/2010
    New Birthday 2 11/22/2010
    Let Love of Life Light Up the Psyche of Fawn 1 11/22/2010
    To Angel Eyes: The Wonders of Your Life 1 11/22/2010
    Regarding the Lack of Fall in Texas 2 11/22/2010
    Light for the Fight 2 11/22/2010
    All That I Have 3 11/21/2010
    Shine 2 11/21/2010
    As If the Last 2 11/21/2010
    Here Now 1 11/21/2010
    All in Time 2 11/21/2010
    The Exile 2 11/20/2010
    Incurable and Terminal 4 11/19/2010
    Tripping 2 11/19/2010
    One More Tomorrow 1 11/19/2010
    My Dash 4 11/19/2010
    One of Two Is Stronger 1 11/19/2010
    No More Romeo; No More Juliet 1 11/18/2010
    Friendship and Life 1 11/18/2010
    Snow and Life 3 11/17/2010
    Live Spelled Backwards 1 11/17/2010
    Sarah Y 2 11/17/2010
    To Fly 2 11/17/2010
    My Cry 1 11/17/2010
    Moment of Madness 2 11/14/2010
    Fall From a Great Height 1 11/14/2010
    A Memory 1 11/14/2010
    Less Life; No Loving 2 11/12/2010
    A Loser, True 2 11/12/2010
    Time Stop 1 11/12/2010
    Final Sleep 1 11/11/2010
    Entre Enfer 1 11/11/2010
    Flying Life 1 11/10/2010
    One Would Have Been Enough to Make Life Worth Living 5 11/06/2010
    Once 3 11/06/2010
    The Haiku Form 2 11/02/2010
    Bridge to a Comet--Your Visits and Comments to Me 4 11/02/2010
    Get Well Soon, Luna Marie 2 11/01/2010
    Winging It (a human haiku, or senryu) 3 10/31/2010
    Light Locomotive 2 10/29/2010
    Skite, Where Were You Today? Where Are You Tonight? 2 10/27/2010
    Angel's Wings, Angel's Voice 4 10/27/2010
    Shy, but Not Too Shy 2 10/27/2010
    High Coo 4 10/25/2010
    From Night to Night 3 10/25/2010
    Life's Journey's End--Cut Short by Cancer 4 10/25/2010
    Love, Light, Life, and Night 2 10/25/2010
    Fear and Courage 1 10/25/2010
    Death in Life 3 10/25/2010
    Unknown Final Fate 3 10/23/2010
    To Right a Poem 4 10/22/2010
    Crab-Like Concealed 4 10/22/2010
    Soon 2 10/21/2010
    All in the Mind 3 10/21/2010
    Ebony Shine 3 10/21/2010
    On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me 5 10/16/2010
    Love, Loss, and Lennon 3 10/09/2010
    Eqinox 4 10/05/2010
    Feeling My Heart 5 10/03/2010
    The Best Person I Ever Knew: My Best Friend--Brian 2 09/25/2010
    In Memoriam, George Difficult 3 09/19/2010
    Lovers 7 08/03/2010
    Art 5 07/07/2010
    Things to Do 4 06/30/2010
    Plane on Fire 3 03/31/2010
    Ameliorator 5 03/27/2010
    Thanksgiving 7 12/09/2009
    Worlds of Light 24 08/30/2009
    Failure's Fortress 13 08/09/2009
    Song of Life (Original Version) 13 10/14/2009
    Top of Page