Word Plays & Stories.... Cathy Lorraine Bagley
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He saw the good in the bad;
the glad in the sad.
People thought him quite mad.
Asking, questioning,
“How can he be so cool?
What a fool!”
Though his wife cheated,
he was not defeated.
Though his kids cussed,
he showed no disgust.
Though his boss never appreciated,
he never felt berated.
Though his finances were meager,
he worked remaining eager.
Folks thought he strutted round like he had the key to a city,
a township no one else had.
They said he pranced like a peacock - chest out as if boasting,
“I deserve notice. Look at me!”
As if his eyes were locked and focused on some imaginary clock
whose hands conveyed
a message in Morse
solely to him.
“How can he be so cool?
That fool!
How can he appear so composed
through it all
while pitifully and nakedly exposed
to life’s fall?
What gall!”
Neighbors chatted and guffawed
behind his back.
He never seemed worried,
never felt slack.
Though his Momma passed,
he had an appendectomy,
He was an outcast,
his new wife had a hysterectomy,
Not disgusted
he still trusted!
Yet not knowing why,
his head stayed high.
His focus, his eye
remained steady
fixed and ready;
as if he knew a secret
that no one else knew;
as if he heard a song
that no one else heard;
as if an Angel’s words
were the only words
whispered in his ear exclusively
on the wings of dragonflies hovering near …
“He’s lost his mind.
No, he’s a good actor.
No one can be that cool
lest he be that much a fool!”
To have all of that against him,
yet he sports
the widest grin
of sorts…
What does he know that they don’t know? What can he see that they can’t see? “He is one happy moron. God bless his soul. Poor pitiful one. His head has a hole. through which his first and last mind has oozed out, no doubt!”
Pt III: Life’s Defining Storm.
Dark days came for all.
Not one man withstood
the floods as he should.
The rains poured.
The winds howled.
Nature’s empty belly
growled…
as if hungry for a feeding! His wife scattered; so too did her kids. They were flung to and hither by gusts of howling wind. His boss begged and pleaded.
“But look at my life’s works. Oh God, please spare me!”
Yet the floods showed no mercy.
His neighbors without opinions or possessions now,
laid scattered about like broken toys in a chest;
a broken bough.
He remained calm through it all! Taking his key, he pranced like a peacock to the one place remaining unscathed by the life’s defining storm. His head steadied, his eyes focused. The clock’s hands on the building signaled in Morse where and when he needed to be.
Dragonflies whispered reassurances that all was good.
Though he witnessed catastrophic events: the end of the world, the day of reckoning, he remained at ease with that most incredible grin. Through the door he passed. In fact, it swung open suddenly when the key made contact! Stepping in made his insides jubilant, blinded him; stole all words from parched parted lips. His eyes burned yet no tears flowed. His heart pounded loudly but dragonfly flutters blanketed all sound. Beyond the doors of this lone standing building was a brave new world! Knowledge of a second chance revealed long ago fueled his widest grin. Inexplicable visions steadied his focus. Stars flickering in his day and night sky kept his head angled high. The dawn of each new day excited him, made him rise. Pain dealt to him for no obvious reason taught him how to endure, forgive and, forget. And what those dragonfly wings buzzed in his ears, made him laugh. They promised he’d know love again …
Pt IV: Unspeakable, Spoken Tragedy.
Despite the raging storms he’d suffered, he thought he’d lost all reason to live.
Ready to take his own life that fateful day when seemingly an eternity ago,
unspeakable but spoken tragedy befell his ears…
His wife, unborn child and toddler son vanished! Gone in an accident! So too went his breath, his desire, his zeal; his human fortune, his legacy…
Three caskets - large, medium and small lined in a row, remained closed. There was no opportunity to plant final kisses on foreheads, hands or cheeks.
Open caskets were more than even Pastor could bear given the occupants’ unsightly disfigurements.
Hiding behind masterfully carved wood caskets and cut arranged floral drapery arrangements didn’t lessen the impact of his loved ones horror. The grieving husband and father wanted to see his beloved mangled bodies. It had to be better than what a vivid mind could imagine was packed away in those eternal tombs.
His Xray vision was so hard at work before, during and after the ceremonies that eulogies given brushed past his consciousness.
All ended with a crash …
His house went into foreclosure.
Who needed a house without a family to make it a home? There was nothing to live for but a vagabond’s homeless, loveless future! With the closing of one coffin after the other, his life, his will ended with theirs; or so he thought … Before the new wife, her kids and the new start; the clock signaled in Morse, the Angel’s whispered he thought his life had ended. “Why not help it along with all that’s gone wrong?” He fashioned a noose hung from a sturdy beam Strategically placing a chair just right; beneath freedom’s tug. A premonition then jolted him suddenly as if a bolt of lightening came in through a mysterious crack revealing itself to no one but him! Furrowing his brow deeply as if he ought
capture soon coming raindrops he thought.
What a peculiar oddity with the sun situated high and no storm clouds in sight! Yet the bolt