Home Again

Picking you up from the airport;
jet airliner bringing you home once again.

Waiting for the plane in the cold wind,
while the sun brings glory to the West.

How long has it been since I’ve touched you?
Almost a million miles ago it seems.

Absence doesn’t get any easier,
when your face won’t leave my dreams.

Seeing your smile, hearing your laugh;
they fill every room that you’re in.

Eagerly searching for you,
finding you at the baggage claim.

Could my mind be playing tricks on me?
Or are you more beautiful than before?

Overwhelmed, I rush to your side;
feeling the resonance of our two smiles.

Feeling your warmth I hug you closely;
safe in each other’s arms—home again.


Chuck Connors, January 15, 2010

Halls of the Dying

Late at night, when only a few ghost-like workers are stirring
I enter the hallowed halls of the dying.
Like a crypt, everything dark, I feel my way from doorway to doorway
hearing the groans and the cries of the dying.
Ghastly sounds reverberate through these forbidden caverns;
lost souls forever grasping for salvation.
Creeping along, my senses alert for hidden dangers
I pause in front of one room and
the smell tells me where I am.
Stepping into the room, almost stumbling over tubing and wires,
I see the form of something on the bed;
it’s chest rising and falling slowly.
Peering more closely at it
I see my father’s body, and my face.
I recoil in horror…


Chuck Connors, January 6, 2010

White Crosses

White crosses alongside the road
honoring the memory of the recently slain.
How did it come that these people died
here—what were they like, while they still lived?

Cars and trucks speed past obliviously,
ignoring the ghosts of the freshly passed.
Each one of us hopes that we’ll still be remembered;
long after we’re gone to the other side.

But what if no one
visited us or mourned?
Left us for dead,
our faces forever forgotten in time.

What must it be like to have a memorial,
all painted and white,
with flowers and trinkets,
alongside a road where no one ever stops?


Chuck Connors, January 1, 2010

Early Morning Departure

Driving you to the airport for an early morning departure,
Wind blowing the rain against the wipers of the truck.

Lifting your heavy bag it thumps on the pavement,
Wondering to myself just what you could have packed?

Ducking out of the storm, bursting into the check-in,
Runaway children caught in a moment of time.

Saying my farewells I look into your eyes;
Wishing you a safe journey, Godspeed to your kin.

Sharing one last long, tender hug;
My eyes linger on you, wanting to remember always.

Dazzled by your smile and the blue of your eyes,
The warmth of your body radiates into mine.

Tearing myself away,
I venture out into the dawn.

Trudge to my truck,
Look up at the sky.

Driving away, lost in my musings.
I smell your perfume, the scent of your hair.

Rolling through the storm, staring at the road;
Praying for your safe return; wishing you were here.


Chuck Connors, December 25, 2009