New poem: "Carlo's Life"

 

Carlo’s Life

 

Third son of Italo and Lucia,

Carlo was born in this country,

and he knew no other. He lived,

went to school, got a secure job

in his electrician’s trade, married

his high school sweetheart, raised

his family the best way he knew

how, preparing his children, a boy

and a girl, for the world, and was

very proud of his accomplishment;

and when he retired after forty-four

years of working his trade across

the province, disheartened that the

work ethic in the trades had grown

so slack over the years, he settled

into his vegetable garden like his

father before him, no less proud

of his tomatoes, and took his wife

on a Mediterranean cruise before

dying of lung cancer. Carlo loved

his wife and family with his heart

and soul, and he thanked God every

day for the freedom this bountiful

country gave him to live the life he

chose and raise his family, (he had

three grandchildren, Richie, David,

and Luciana when he died in his

mortgage-free red brick home with

 his family by his side), in a safe,

secure environment.