So great to be four, five even six

When playing fireman, policeman

Occupied your time

Well, then, it was cowboys and Indians

Then that crazy concept of school started

With it’s mandated idea of educational happiness

To mold perfect citizens

Pouring into young minds

What was considered necessary for success

And by the end of high school

Hopefully an inkling was starting to germinate

In your pursuit of happiness

But money is the measurement of success

Not enough, you are not a success

So your education may or not spell

How you are viewed

But get passed that

As spouse and children might envelope your life

Taking it in an altogether different direction

And then for goodness sake grandchildren and retirement

Rename and repurpose you

And then what

There are those who know better what you need to be doing

Downsize, go slower, try puzzles

Let someone else watch the grandchildren

Maybe this is the time to read that book, paint that picture

Take up a new language

Hell I’ve only had 70 years and never done those yet

How ‘bout I just be me?

Whatever that may be

FXC. 5/31/2020. Copyright frankxcameron.com

The awful truth is that this existence is limited

Never wanted to concede that point in the debate

Especially this early in the game

It’s still early, right?

However now that the line in the sand has been crossed

Looking for a soft landing

Don’t know if there really is one

Some options have already been discarded

Stopped drinking, smoking to reduce those causes

Granted since no one exits at a predetermined time or method

Multiple complications crop up

One which was simply terrifying

Was the swab test for the coronavirus

Wore the mask, avoided contact with others

Online shopping became a routine

Yet, yet a procedure that had been delayed

Now had been moved to the front of the line

Thus the red flag of the swab test now flew brazenly in my face

Had already heard descriptions

None indicating a walk in the park

And since the test was given in a parking lot

While in one’s car by a nurse garbed as if traveling far from here

Was really unnerved as if this was my first shot

Knew already some had to administer the test to themselves

That would be my last choice

So the moment was now, the nurse holding what looked like a twelve inch skewer

Hardly noticed at first but quickly became quite aware of a

Very foreign object being inserted where it should

Never have been inserted

Then my Academy Award effort began

As groaning and tears added to complete degradation

Of what had once been a very proud man

Of course could not really look at the nurse now

Embarrassment was the least of my worries

As I hurriedly rushed to use the sanitary clothes

To clean my face

My prize?

Negative test

FXC 5/31/2020 frankxcameron.com

There are those with whom casual defines the relationship

Others with whom there is a nodding aquantaince

At work there are often many friends

Till an invitation to go for drinks after work

Then the friends list is pared down

Occasionally there are those with whom a confidence is shared with

How that confidence is shared by your confident

Will determine how long they remain your confidant

Beyond that there are those with whom you are too close

Discretion was compromised in an unguarded moment

When eyes meet there is an acknowledged moment

A breach of decorum has occurred

Too much is revealed

Possible wishes, dreams, hopes, sadness

Feelings which bind

We are too close and I must go!

FXC 5/1/2020 Copyright frankxcameron.com

Being 20 in the sixties was so cut and dry

All right being 20 is cut and dry anytime

Solutions seem to exist on the tip of the tongue

How the world survived till your twenties is a miracle

The popular slogan,

“If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem”

Echoed and reverberated as a standard answer for those

Wondering what is happening with this new generation

Protests and campaigns often melted into life’s responsibilities

Till today when the anguish of injustice

Still smothers, those who it always have

The weak, the poor, those of color, the disenfranchised

Surely time has not stood still

Not quite believable the country still struggles

To understand the fight for justice

Is a life long battle

Fought in other lands and at home

This country was taken from the Indians,

The soil tilled by blacks,

Developed by those with vision

Evangelized by multiple faiths

Any wonder it is sill standing

So hard to hold hands

With those we see as the enemy

Yet somehow, somehow

They are our brother and sisters!

FXC 5/31/2020 Copyright frankxcameron.com

Unaware 70 years ago of the arrival

Of she who would be the princess of my world

In another city, another state

Might have been in a different world

Yes, there are many pictures and cards anotating

Her history and story

Long before I arrived other friends and boyfriends, family

Were in the mix

Finally at 17 I was able to debut

At a chance meeting arranged by her best friend my sister

Already almost family

Smitten is an understatement

Took two dates for my future to unfold

Has taken 50 years for me to understand

How little men really understand about loving

Do understand that this gift is not infinite

That life takes a toll

Our walk through life full of stumbles, skips and jumps

Will continue in each other’s arms

From this day forward

I love you Julie Becker

Happy Birthday!

FXC 5/19/2020

Copyright frankxcameron@gmail.com