The Some Of All Things Poem by John Gaskin

Sometimes
I wish I could go home
To where
The sky is always blue
And the sun shines
Everyday
Playing
Now you see me
Now you don’t
Behind fluffy white clouds
And the laundry dances
On the washing line
While mum
Pegs out
Huge white sheets
As big as sails
And the breeze
Blowing in
Off the Irish sea
Makes the beech trees sway
And brings
The salt air
You can taste on your tongue
While the aroma
Of vegetable soup
Simmering
On the kitchen stove
Drifts outside
To where I sit watching
From the back door step
But
That was sometime ago

Sometimes
I get confused
When I look down
I wonder
Why are these old man’s hands
Attached to my body?
And I look in the mirror
And ask myself
Why is my father’s face
Staring back at me?
And
When did all these lines
First form into a relief map
On my young outlook?
Time was
A smile innocently sent out
To some beautiful young creature
Would be returned
A coy
Shy
Glance
Then grew into one
Of aloofness
Becoming since
An angry glare
A frozen stare
Then finally
An insulted
Unwanted
Look of horror
My smile’s intentions
Hasn’t changed
Across the years
Only
The lines on my face
Taking me from
Jack the lad
To lecher
In the wrinkling of an eye
A dirty old man
Sentenced
To aging isolation
And I wonder
How did that happen?
After all
I’m only twenty two
At heart
Although
Sometimes
My body and I
Suffer palpitations
And will eventually go
Our separate ways
Somewhere
Along life’s road

Sometimes
I wonder why we’re here?
To find love and raise children
Who
One day
Don’t need us anymore?
Our parental commands
Become advice
Then pearls of wisdom
And finally
Unrelated
Unwanted
Complaints
We use the same words and phrases
But the interpretation changes
Over
The passing years
The world moves on
With
Or without us
Changing
The place where we live
From
Green fields to houses
And eventually
From houses
Back to green fields
And so
The cycle recycles
For life
Is about change
A constant
Moving force
That won’t let us remain
So
We try to hang on
Clutching
At what’s precious
Clinging
Onto our relationships
Grasping
At our personal beliefs
To maintain
Our bearings
To keep us afloat

And the sum
Of all things
Is to
Be with
Your perfect
Someone
Belong to
Your special
Somewhere
Believe in
Those ideals
You hold to be true
And then
Perhaps
We can smile
As we remember
Someone
Somewhere
Sometimes