[p o e t r y]

Glen Parsons

I met an old man
Named Glen today

Glen has lived
In Oklahoma
For his whole life
And in Shawnee
Since he was in the 8th grade

He met the love of his life here
He grew up here
He attended college here
He worked here
He retired here
He buried friends
And brothers
And a wife
All here

Today he told me casually
That he went to his
Buddy's funeral today
At 10am

He told me about the funeral
As casually
As I would say
I went to a meeting

My parents tell me
That Glen is old enough
That funerals are normal

But I cannot imagine being Glen

Glen lost a wife
After 50 years of marriage
A brother
After a lifetime of friendship
And many
Many friends
In recent years

It really puts perspective
On my own life

It makes me think
That perhaps,
Though at times I feel the great weight
Of loss,
That loss can be beautiful
Because it is simply
A part of being human

However
What struck me most
In my conversation with Glen

Was not the fact
That he has a cow's heart valve
- a topic he told me
So casually about over dinner-
Or the fact that he brought
"A lady friend"
- who makes his favorite
Marshmallow salad
And who watches the Thunder
With Glen after their nightly
Cracker Barrel dinner date -
Nor even the fact
That he's been retired
For more years
Than he worked
-31 and 32 years-

No, what stuck me most
In my conversation
With Glen
Was how he spoke of his brother

Glen told me about how his brother
Had returned from the war
Shell shocked 
But how he still
Went to school
Became an English teacher
- a "great teacher" in fact-
And how when it came time,
Glen's brother quit his teaching job
To work for the government
So that he could pay for his
Kid's schooling
In all of this
What struck me most
Was the admiration in Glen's eyes
And the respect in his voice

I expected his voice to quiver
And his eyes to fill with tears
But there was no sadness
As Glen recalled his brother's life.
There was simply
Respect and admiration
For as Glen said,
"He lived a good life."

One day,
I hope that my brothers
And my friends
Can recall my life
Like Glen recalled his brother's

I hope for that simple life
A life not devoid of hardships
But a life of endurance
And contentment
I want to endure the hardships
And find a man to love and to commit to
- that was another thing Glen told me
That out of all his friends
And brothers
No one he loved every got a divorce-
I hope to be like that  
I hope to marry
And to struggle together
Making sacrifices for our children
And loving them so well
That their uncles can look back
Upon the life we've lived
And say it was a good one

I want to live and die
A good life
In a small town
With a loving family
And be remembered
As a woman
Who "lived a good life"
Just as Glen's brother did

12/10/22