Empty Boat

"That's my boat. Not Daddy Mac's. But it reminds me of him because it's empty.

"It's like his too because I built it, with my own hands, like he did.

"And it's little, like his was. Like he was. But don't you go getting the idea that he was really little. He had a heart like outer space. Everything fit in it.

"Yes, it hit him hard, Ma Bertie dying like she did. He was the one what came upon her, sitting in the backyard in her great big chair, facing out on the wild roses that grew by the sea. He even sneaked up on her. Tapped her on the shoulder for a little surprise. But it was him was surprised. He said it stopped his heart. He said when it started again, he was even more surprised. And it was me what came on him, kneeling on the ground with his bald head in her lap, wetting her dress with his tears.

"Dear Diary, I don't know. Sometimes it just comes over me, rolling in like the fog. And then I can't see clear and don't know what to do but sit and write some words to try and clear things up.

"It makes me want to stay away from Betty when it happens. Because the problem with finding somebody is that then you can lose them. And I don't know if I'm built to take that kind of losing.

"I built that boat, though. And it has seen rough water made me think I might not make it home.

"Yet here I am."

"Yet here I am."

25 May 2024
Texas Jim
Prospect, Nova Scotia
www.granitecoast.ca