He was rigging a swing upon the porch
Gnarled hands fumbling with the knot
And in the hunch of his rounded shoulders
I sat sadly wondering about his lot
How hard life had always been
Yet he wore a warming smile
When I asked if he was feeling tired
So quick would come his denial
He would tell me stories from the past
But he'd leave out all the woe
His tales were very enjoyable
But of sadness, he didn't wish me to know
I gleaned much more that he ever knew
For Nanny repeated all she saw
Like how when he was a young boy
He witnessed the death of his beloved Pa
She told me of the times they went hungry
Of him walking to work in the blinding snow
With no coat nor boots upon his feet
And the temperature at nearly forty below
She spoke of their first born son
How Poppy had placed him in the ground
For they had gone fishing one day
And the little boy had drowned
When she spoke about his fiddle
Her eyes lit up like burnished gold
For so haunting was the music
It broke his heart when it was sold
She told me of his hopes and dreams
And how he had laid them all aside
For dreams simply couldn't be fed
When you had a new baby and a bride
Suddenly Poppy paused from his task
Turning to look me in the eye
"My dear child" he said softly
"Very soon I know I will die"
"And though my time here has been long"
"The years have quickly slipped by"
"It's not the dying I fear so much"
"It's that I know you'll be alone to cry"
His hands traced over the rough swing seat
As a crystal tear slid down his face
Wiping it away with a warm hand
Of his weakness, he wished seen no trace
From his pocket he fetched a worn pipe
Soon the air was scented in delicate spice
The rich aroma of his special tobacco
Always smelled so incredibly nice
He dug deep in his pants pocket
And passed me a wonderful treat
Luscious ruby red liquorish
Its taste so deliciously sweet
He sat down wearily on the swing
And pulled me to sit upon his knee
Snuggling up so very close to him
His spiky whiskers soon tickled me
The sun was shining brightly
As he and I did quietly swing
Thinking about the long lost past
And what the future was sure to bring
The birds were humming a gentle melody
As our swing so softly creaked
Gazing up into the morning sky
As a rainbow wondrously streaked
We were silent for quite a long time
The rich timbre of his voice reaching out to me
"Child" he said "there's something I need to show you"
"Something special I wish for you to see"
He took my hand and led me into the yard
There stood an old wooden shed
It was his unspoken private place
A place for his dreams he said
Unlocking the door, we stepped inside
And he flicked on a very pale light
The smell of paint assaulted my nose
As I took in the incredible sight
The little shed was filled to the brim
With all the memories of his past
So many years were represented
His collection was immensely vast
His wedding suit sat wrapped in clear plastic
And a copy of his very first paycheck
There was even a rack of very ugly ties
I'd never seen him wear any around his neck
He laughed when I asked why he had saved them
"Gifts from every occasion" he said
"But at least this way they won't ever know"
"I never liked them, til after I'm dead"
Finally I saw what he wanted to show me
It was a collection of paintings so grand
All in beautiful vibrant watercolours
The first one of my dear departed Nan
My eyes looked up in wonder
For there were so many of me,
It seems he had done one every year
Since I'd been two or three
There were portraits of everyone
All the people that he had come to love
He gave them all to me to protect
For he knew he would soon go above
The very next day my Poppy died
And he was right, I did cry alone
The sadness was silently crushing me
It filled each pore and every bone
When the pain had dulled a little
I went back to his small shed
Inside I could almost touch him
As if he wasn't really dead
I look after all his things now
And when I need him to be near
I pull out those wonderful portraits
That he painted with such love and care
Author notes
By: Cupcrazy
This piece is about my great grandfather. He was a truly wonderful human being. Rest in peace Poppy!I miss you!! Option no. 2
Written October 28th, 2006
In a list
A contest entry
- The Best of the Best of the Best, etc. by Heavenly Angel.
1500 points, ended June 13, 2007, 22 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 65 of 65
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I really liked this piece, so much imagery and feeling, I really liked that about this poem. Thank you so much for your entry and good luck in my contest.
~Maria -
What a gorgeous, touching story. And what a wonderful Poppy you had. Beautifully done.
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oops,iforgot applause
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wow!!!this is so incredibly beautiful,tears came rushing when i read, My eyes looked up in wonder
For there were so many of me, and ilove the lines The sadness was silently crushing me
It filled each pore and every bone it flowed perfectly,such a wonderful story and poem.really really good write you dont need me to wish you good luck but good luck anyway! -
a wonderful tribute. This was beautiful...one of the best poems I've ever read. Kudos also on the title and form - very good.
all the best
SM
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Aaaaaaaaaaw Dangggggggg
Beautiful verse You have penned and Touches to the core
What a Gem You have spoken of- Priceless
Treasure
Thank You for the Honor of sharing his words
of Wisdom with us and for allowing opportunity
to see his Light!
Best wishes to You in the contest!
Many blessings too
and much love~ Desire~*~
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I'm at a loss for words; this is....this is beautiful! Tender, loving, a fine sharing into this contest
Thank you
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Thanks for entering and good luck.
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This is a beautiful memory of your dear great grandfather. I could feel your bittersweet feeling for him and his love for you.
Thank you for entering and good luck
ramblin
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this was wonderful. i loved the rhme and the emotion pours out of the words and into the reader. thank you for entering my contest and good luck.
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Such a wonderful poem of love for your grandfather. I could feel all the love that you have for him. Excellent write. a little long for me. But I am so glad that I read it. Awesome, good luck in my contest
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touching
Such beautiful memories live in your heart!
It truly touched me and made me think of my Grandpa whom I loved so dearly...
Your rhyme and flow is flawless, but most of all, the emotion is ever present in this beautiful piece! TY for entering my contest and giving me the pleasure of reading this
Lynda -
This was really beautiful. Awesome job. It brings back memories of my own pop-pop. This is really sweet. I especially liked:
"When she spoke about his fiddle
Her eyes lit up like burnished gold
For so haunting was the music
It broke his heart when it was sold."
Thank you so much for your entry.
Good Luck! -
Great job Bunny, an excellent show stopper. A worthy trophy winner indeed. Jan
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Touching!
Okay, so the little guy is showing just how much I cried!!! This is such a very sad piece! Beautifuuly penned, with such care to detail. Wonderful use of imagery to allow the readers to feel the intense emotion throughout! Amazing piece!!! Thank you so much for entering! Best wishes!
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What a wonderful relationship you had with him. This was so sweet. It brought a tear to my eye. Beautiful.
-Dlvvanzor -
AngelKissez told me that this was heartwarming and that I should read it. I'm so glad I did. I never had grandparents of my own so I just adopted so many others. Your Poppy sound like one I would have loved.
This truly is heartwarming and so beautifully pure. What a lovely burden of love! Congratulations on your win, but most of all, God bless you. Hugs, Patricia
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Congratulations
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VERY NICE JOB! thank you and im happy to announce you won first place with 300 points!!! yay! great job and i cant wait to see you in some more of my contests i will be back! i would appreciate it!
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this is so fantastically sweet! i absolutey loved it! this is a rough contest! this is definately award winning and its a tough one! it brought tears to my eyes and i could say so much abotu this it really touched my heart and i thank you! it was a blessing! thanks for entering my contest! good luck! i have no applauses left or they would all be yours =\ sorry =(
*god bless your soul!* ~kelc -
Wow this is such a sad, wonderful story. It felt like i was reading a story and not a poem. Everything fit together so nicely.
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Excellent Write
I am not a big fan of long poems but this was a real page-turner as they say (about novels).
Thanks for these memories. Some of us older types can see ourselves and our loved ones in these words. -
VERY impressive writing. Definitely worthy of being published. If you haven't submitted this to some journal I seriously would consider it.
When she spoke about his fiddle
Her eyes lit up like burnished gold
For so haunting was the music
It broke his heart when it was sold
The iliteration to paint and colors in a similar medium to writing is very well done.
Arthur
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Thought you had a new piece when I saw your name posted, got excited and clicked! I have already read this heartfelt wonderful piece! Again I will wish you luck in the contest, although (I doubt you need it!!) My pleasure to read yet again! ~Tia
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A wonderful story yet again!Very well written and expressed
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LOVELY POEM !!!!!!!
I see I have already commented on your poem. It was worth a second read with veterans day coming in a few days. This was such a beautiful poem written from your heart. Take care, Sandy
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Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, that made me nearly cry! I got no applauses left, but I have enough points, that I don't care, I'm buying one for you! lol
God... this just made me think... about how much I love the idea of the older days... before computers, before all of these unneeded things... It causes so much more havoc... and keeps people from really getting close to one another... I don't know, I just miss the days when I was a kid... so innocent, and able to go to my (now departed) Grandma's house... Now that house is no longer owned by my family... and I miss it dearly, it had the scent of her husband's pipe, whom died when I was only about 5, I am now 17, and I just miss it all... *sigh* She died less than 2 years ago... It's hard, I was so unbelievably close to her, and she kept me so strong, that from the moment she died, I became a MUCH weaker person... I now just hope everything will become better... I miss the days... where I could go outside, and enjoy the smell of the fresh air, and being outside, so much easier than now... and you know... now I feel like writing a poem about it... who knows, I may end up crying while I write it.... This is perhaps the most fantastic write I have ever seen on here... you ARE indeed, the best writer... you deserve to win that contest, so I am not going to say good luck in it, I'm going to say that in my eyes, you win. Good job!!! -
Hi, a very lovely narrative poem, you took your readers there and they could see and touch all the things you wrote about,a poem with a lot of feel, loved it, all the best in the comp, hugs Di, you have my applause,
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i just lost my nanna, and this made me bawl my eyes out --
emotional and graceful
well done -
Such a wonderful story! You already know, I love this one! Good choice!!
your shalott Sis
xxoo
dk -
what a wonderful tribute to your great grandfather. It speaks of your love for him , as well as his for you
He must have been a terrific man and may you always find comfort in the little things he taught you as well as his personal things that now belong to you. I can understand how they make you feel his presence and comfort you in your grief. I hope you will recount his legacy to your children , so they can do the same to theirs....and it is in that way that he will keep on living in the hearts of many. I enjoyed every line of this ....it flowed so well and nothing was forced. Your pen just seemed to become magic and I thank you for sharing this with us Best wishes in the final round of this contest. You do have my vote
reenie
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Absolutely Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!!!!This shows the delicate yet strong bond you had with your grandpa!!{If this is indeed about your own personal experience} It was a beautiful story unfolding more in each stanza. If only we could have thoses memories and special relationships now a days. It seems we don't really take time to understand and really get to know each other at al;l in the hustlr and bustle of life. But yoy have slowed us down with this piece and I could have cried because it made me think of both of my granparents who are deceased. I have alot of Christmad memories of them and a few other but didn't really know them or what they stood for what they loved. Cherish these specialmemories you have becauses they are priceless!!!!!!!!!Surer job!!! Keep on writing and sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!Toni -
AWWWWW..... how sweet it makes me think of my grandfather and how much we loved each other and all our family members... it was so good the rythmic tension was graceful in how you put your feelings into your words i loved it.
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This brough tears to my old eyes, I miss my grandpa still after all these years, He was always filled with Love of life and laughter. it will be good to reunite with him when my time to leave this place has come...Scott
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BEAUTIFUL POEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was such a beautiful poem. Your true love for your great grand pa is so evident in every line. You wrote this with so much love. I enjoyed the entire poem. Such a breath of fresh air on here. Thank you for sharing his sweet memory with us. god Bless you, Sandy
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I can't believe after your chat he passed the very next day. I am so glad he presented you with these gifts before his departure. This was heaven ordained! xx
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Thank you so very much Belle for your wonderful insightful comments and encouraging applause, I am so glad you enjoyed it. This piece is a piece of my heart, it was a joy to write and just flowed so quickly from beginning to end, almost like it wrote itself on my eyes. I think it was fitting of me to end this contest with this piece, for it was my poppy who always encouraged me to write and to write with honesty and let my emotions flow through into the words, for he would say that words without emotion are just words arranged on a page. How true that really is. Hugs, Bunny
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Bunnie, such a beautiful tribute to your Poppy in a narrative form. I understand your love for him as I loved my Papa so very much, too. I received my grandfather's personal bible so I understand the sentimental value of the portraits. The senses were conveyed wonderfully and the poem was stately and much touching. You truly poured your soul into this. All the best in the contest, my dear Shalott sister. Luv, Belle
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Thank you so very much for your wonderful comments on this piece, I am so very glad you enjoyed this one and I know that he is smiling down on me, I can feel him very near sometimes, the feeling is comforting. Hugs, Bunny
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Thank you so very much for your wonderful comments and encouraging applause on this piece, I am so very glad you enjoyed it! Bunny
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This is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I have ever read, because it is personal and also based on reality, no wonder you are in this contest this is amazing !!
I am sure your great-grandad is smiling down on you tonight full of pride.
Well written and as always indeed a pleasure to read, goodluck on the contest you deserve the Gold !!!
xxx -
Thank you so very much for your wonderful comments and applause on this piece, I am so very glad you enjoyed it. Bunny
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This is amazing to say the least! This poem is so touching and so deep, the character in this poem is humbling and that makes is such a deep and insightful write. The feeling is beautiful! You've done a great job. good luck in the contest!
Felicia -
Ho what a touching tribute to your great grandfather, I hope that my children and grandchildren remember me with such tender memories. Thankyou for sharing this personal piece of work, I read it with much appreciation. Val.
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Thank you so very much for your wonderfully insightful comments on this piece, and encouraging applause, I am so very glad you enjoyed it! Bunny
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There seems to be very little to say by way of encouragement and what a fantastic piece this is. There is so much emotion in it, much more than most people understand as it truly comes from the heart and through experience. One may try to write a heartfelt piece and never succeed to get it just right until they finally experience it. You've managed it first go it seems, and for that you have my heartfelt respect.
Good luck!
~
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Thank you so very much for your wonderful comments on this piece, I am glad you enjoyed it although I did not mean to make you cry and hope that someday you have memories like this to share and keep in your heart. Hugs, Bunny
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Omigosh. This made me cry. This was so very beautiful. You are very lucky to have had such a relationship with someone like this. My whole family is all about not showing your emotions to anyone who does not live in the same house as you, and it makes for very distant and chilly relationships. Beautifully penned.
May butterflies keep you.
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Thanks so very much for your wonderful comments on this piece, I am so very glad you enjoyed it! Bunny
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Thank you so very much for your wonderful insightful comments and encouraging applause, I am so very glad you enjoyed this piece and that it brought back your own wonderful memories. Bunny
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awww this is so beautiful and it has alot of emotions in it. I must say this poem is a pleasure to read I love it and you are a very talented poet who seems to have a lot of heart. Great work!!!!
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excellent
This is so beautiful and so captivating a wonderful piece one of the best i have ever read.i loved it.i love d my grandfather very much too and he has a number of poems about him.Thats what memories are for. -
Thank you so very much cathy for your wonderful comments on this piece and encouraging applause, this one is special to me so I am very glad that you enjoyed it as much! Bunny
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Oh Bunny, this piece touched me so deeply! Its so very beautiful and your love for him simply jumps off the page.
I can't express how much I enjoyed reading this. -
Thank you maa for your wonderful comments on this piece, I am so very glad that you enjoyed it and even more glad that it brought back some precious memories to you also. Hugs, Bunny
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dear bunny,
your poem deeply moved me within my soul and brought up a strong emotion and a nostalgic feeling related to my own grandfather. your imagery is exquisit and underlines the stirred emotion even more. I believe that you have created here a truly precious piece, which will certainly move the judges and our host.
all the best for you,
maa -
Thank you so very much for your wonderful and insightful comments on this piece, I am so very glad you enjoyed it and doubly so that it brought back the wonderful memories of your own beloved poppy. They are so special I think for their love is clear and always without reservation. they give of themselves and in turn we are so blessed. Hugs Bunny
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Thank you so very much for your wonderful comments on this piece, I am so very glad you enjoyed this one it is very special to me. Bunny
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Undescribable
WOW..this is truely amazing..my opa (which is grandfather in dutch) was my best friend..when he was about to die he gave me a tiny golden locked in the shape of a heart with mine and his picture..that way he would always be with me..when i graduated from public school, and high school and when i get married and when i have children..our watercolours will never fade..as vibrant as ever..never to be taken
This was soo sweet and wonderful..the words very warming and the story breatht taking...
I really don't have the words to tell you how great of a writer you truely are..you are well deserving of the title of this contest...
AMAZING work..never drop your penn..never leave a watercolour out of your palet..
-sae-
p.s I wish you the best of luck in the contest
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beautiful
You are an incredible writer I could totally see the two of you together. I could feel the comfort the love and the loss. Amazing you have painted a grand picture with words here. I really dont know what to say this is so beautiful. You really tune in to your emotions well I'm impressed. -
Thank you Paul for your wonderful comments on this piece, I am so glad you enjoyed it. And yes the memories sometimes are hard to look at, but I am so glad that I have them because each time I look at his beautiful portraits, the essence of who he was fills me. He was the most wonderful poppy, I don't even think he knew the effect that he had on me, he was strong, and tall, my hero in fact, a little girls dreams seen through childlike eyes. I bet your granddaughters think of you like that, it's amazing the bonds that are made through love, they last a lifetime and long after you are gone, your granddaughters will feel as I do about my poppy and they will love you forever. Bunny
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What a wonderful write, so packed with memories and meaning. You're so very fortunate to have had someone like that in your life - and all those great momentos of his life. But, in one way, they would be hard to look at, and in another, a great way to remember. I have a couple of AP grandaughters that call me Poppy too, and now it will have a little more meaning. Great job and good luck.
Paul -
Thank you so very much Dove, I decided to go with the piece I loved the best and this was it,
I am glad you enjoyed it! Bunny
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Bunny this is a beautiful heartfelt piece, truly wonderful I think my favorite line was “A place for his dreams he said”. That just touched my heart. Best wishes to you in the contest and in all you do dear friend
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