WHERE LIFE TAKES YOU

We met at the Elks Club
in Oak Lawn, Illinois
was the Harold Richards High School
class of 1965
we didn’t know who’d be there
but there were fewer this time
for our Bulldog reunion
of the black gold and white

you look so familiar
well I should man it’s Stu
it’s so great to see you
you’re lookin’ pretty good
did you hear about Kenny
you mean Kenny Beshear
well i heard he’s not comin
to the party this year

what you know about him
oh really not much
after our graduation
we all kinda lost touch
Cindy Maynard and him
got married right away
and he drove truck for Lefler’s
she waitressed at Jay’s

Kenny tired of the driving
just after a year
and was feeling uncertain
about his career
but just when baby Emma
came onto the scene
the military asked him
to be all he could be

he was drafted in the Army
11 Bravo 1rst Cav
pulled a nine month tour of duty
First Field Force Viet Nam
Ronnie Wade was there with him
friends back in the day
good times til a tripwire
took Ronnie away

when Kenny got stateside
he was messed up real bad
with a minefield of nightmares
blowing up in rehab
spent months in the V.A.
they do the best that they can
but they couldn’t put Kenny
back together again

he gets SSI checks
and sells copper and cans
in Blue Ash Ohio
at the recycling plant
when he split up with Cindy
he never called her again
kept on drinking and thinking
with a mind that don’t mend

cancer took Cindy
about two months ago
she never remarried
raised her Emmie alone
and the last thing she told her
Em I want you to know
you can still have your dreams
if you never lose hope

so they’re no longer with us
and that brings me to tears
everybody liked Kenny
and Cindy Beshear
so in living or dying
I know it’s so true
you just don’t know the dance
life is taking you to

A poem by Greg Nelson
© 2023 by Poppie’s Hallel
(BMI. Admin. by Amplified Administration)