Orphans by Bruce Michael Foley

orphans

ORPHANS

for Ruthie and Frank Stanford

There were dangers ahead
far worse than heavy rains on the river,
dreams of failure, bed wetting shame and
weekend calls for an ambulance to hurry, come quickly.

You’ll never dream as orphans do.

Where denial of your favorite pillow
becomes a death in the family, the newly issued
were fresh but lacked warmth and familiarity.
It took time to break them in, forehead
damp from a nightmares sweat, their faces sickly pale
as delta dew upon rows of faded tombstones at dawn.

You’ll never dream as orphans do.

Within the fragile child mind, vague scenes
from a confused infancy play around the clock,
recalling two strangers named Mommy and Daddy.
No intermission here, for ice cream and candy.

No sweet scent
of mothers tender breast to lay
a sleepy head on,
comfort comes in the same old smells
upon these sad pillows, vapor of sour milk breath,
unconscious drool and a flood of tears
to make even the strongest of levees break.

You’ll never dream as orphans do.

indexI was born across the bridge from Boston, Massachusetts, in Cambridge, as July 4th fireworks exploded over the Charles River, just a stone’s throw from Harvard University. At age two, my family moved to Somerville, Ma.,where I was raised in a rough blue-collar environment, playing many sports. In 1998 I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, I work among special needs children and teach martial arts. Poetry began in high school, but took off in a more dedicated way in later years, along with resuming music studies, guitar. My poems are published in various anthologies; including Impressions, Prism, and the Mighty Voices Of Thunder Series, sponsored by the international poetry website, “Allpoetry.” I was a featured poet in Lyrical Somerville February 2015, a Boston based publication, as well as being an “Editor’s Front Page Pick,” for the month of March 2016 on Allpoetry. A defining moment that contributed significantly to further interest in writing was a First Place Award from the International Poetry Fellowship, for my poem, “Among Fields of Cotton.” Presently, I am happy to have the opportunity to explore various forms of poetry with Mr. Bruce Isaacson, Poet Laureate of Clark County Nevada.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.