Losing

I been
learning to lose
since the day I was born
twenty-three days after that day
which forever lives in infamy.

Mother spent my early days
riveting Boeing bombers,
father spent days and nights
generating ‘nough acetylene
to weld a thousand Kaiser ships,
six thousand B-17’s.
Hardly anyone had time
even to hear me cry.

Lost our home after
big brother’s asthma;
no health insurance to pay the bills.
Spent a year living in an old motel,
dad four hundred miles away
working night and day to pay rent, buy food.

Nearly lost a hand
when it went through the wringer,
left my hand shaped like a cup,
little beggar who couldn’t do for himself.

Hell, feels like I’m still losing.
Sure don’t expect to ever Win.
Probably end up just folding
these cards, slipping away in the dark.

7 thoughts on “Losing”

  1. Yep, it’s mine, Mike, that’s why I could change the title and last line, which was “Why I’m a Democrat.”

  2. I think loss is inevitable in life, but that’s not to say any of us are “losers” in the sense that too many people use it.

    I know loss is inevitable, but I still try to fight its destructive effects.

    I’ve lived some tough times and, as a result, have always identified with those who have to fight their way in life.

    I love the Blues, and consider this written in that vein.

  3. A very moving poem, Loren – blues or not, true or not. I’m sure it has a lot of truth in it, even if you yourself come down on the side of fighting. And poetry is a way to do that, isn’t it?

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