Dad

Dad

You started out so strong and ambitious
Seeking adventure and following wishes

They wanted to take you involuntarily
You wouldn’t have that because you were free

You walked right to them and said I’ll sign up
After all that you filled up your cup

Cheers to the men of the red white and blue
See you folks later I’m one of them too

Out in the jungle alone and uneasy
The dead one by one made you too queasy

Shots in the dark, friendly fire or not
You don’t want to be the soldier they spot

Somehow you made it until they made peace
What happened next would not soon decrease

Surrounded by people you still stayed alone
Drank all your sorrows straight to your stone

Bloated and jaundice you no longer spoke
A spark or a glimmer no one could invoke

Alas, you were gone and this time forever
I had to pull the proverbial lever

A dark cloak of sadness that I was bestowed
Your guardian angel to show you the road

Once you were gone I had to look upward
That place I would hide from as such a coward

But there I found more than my dreams could imagine
A solace where I could find so much magic

Now we talk daily alone and together
My father, my mentor, now you’re all better

In Loving Memory, Max Joseph Schlauch
August 31, 1949-February 14, 2004

Kimberlee Schlauch
10/02/2005