September 2023
Bio Note: I am a librarian and an old-time style banjo player. I have performed at Caffe Lena, Skidmore College (Solomon Northup Day), etc. I have published writing at Verse-Virtual, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood and Hudson Valley Writers Guild and so on. I received a grant in 2021 to publish a book of poems based, in part, on my time working as a building super in Manhattan - Downtown Super Tells All.
The Hero's Journey at the End of Life
Rereading Basho and his
Poetic travels at the
End of his life
I started thinking about
My father and his
Crazy nighttime
Travels around Long Island
And into Brooklyn and
Around the city.
And I wonder what on earth
He was looking for
Driving around,
What was it in his mind
Had him call my mother
At 3:15 in the morning
From the Bronx
Using someone’s phone
He met on a street corner
To say
Hi, I’m OK, I’ll be home
Soon,
And then to turn up late morning
With his wallet empty
With no explanation
And no memory of
Where he had been?
*
So let’s see,
You have Basho and
His trips to monasteries
You have Robert Walser
Leaving the
Mental asylum
To go walking around
You have the stories of
The knights of old
The quest for the
Holy Grail
And the symbolism
Of the sacred cup
And you have my father
Dementia burning
In his brain,
An alter boy until he
Was twenty years old,
Stacks of
Penthouse magazines
Hidden in his closet,
Driving away
Night after night,
My mother waiting
By the phone
For the call,
Or falling asleep
On the couch,
Worried, waiting,
Ready to give him
Hell when he
Walked in the door.
©2023 Dan Hubbs
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