Song for My Father
I swear
Pandora is
Out to get me.
It has played
“The Leader of the Band”
Twice this morning,
The song that I quoted
In the eulogy I wrote for
My father
A year ago.
I can’t hear the song
Without crying
As I am now
As I write this.
Music is
As Mr. Monk would say
A blessing
And a curse
And yet I feel blessed
To have known him.
Dan Verner
January 25, 2016
Biscuit City 
Beautiful poem. I know just how you feel about hearing a song on the radio that immediately blows you back into a bittersweet memory of the past.
Beautiful poem. You perfectly evoke the bittersweet feelings of hearing “that” song on the radio, the song that flip-flops our hearts into a past where our most joyful and most painful memories live. Thanks.
In 2014, my last year of teaching English in the public school system , our team was asked to revise and improve our poetry unit. One of our requirements was to create a ‘non traditional’ end of year assessment. As harsh disagreements and missteps among us built up, I suggested that each of us pause and actually write a poem to show the kids . Don’t think anyone else in my team wrote one but here is mine anyway:
Memories and Wishes
Good memories and wishes
are often confused
in the mind, I think.
One lives on the right
side of the brain and
the other lives on the left.
Perhaps.
Both are buried way below the surface.
As if in a deep snow cave.
They might also be like crocuses
or some new grass coming better into view,
as the weather warms and the soul reaches out.
The best memories and wishes
sprout forth with images of loved ones and friends
as part of the calming scene. A. Gifford
I like the phrasing and imagery of this. Thanks for sharing it.