TO UNCLE FRAN
Uncle Fran is my man...
he held my hand
when I was little...
He took pictures of me
with him on the USS Fogg, a Navy Destroyer,
World War II...
Your shipmates
believed, I was your daughter,
you didn't tell them different...
In 1944, as I learned to print
I printed you a letter...
That letter was destroyed
when the Fogg was torpedoed
and is buried at sea...
I have the V mail you sent
to Aunt Lydia, asking me for more letters...
Let's buy you a Sailor Suit , Navy Blue
When the war ended,
you came home and started
to rebuild your life on land again.
You and your girlfriend, (Aunt Lydia,
you always called her your girlfriend,
years didn't matter)....
You and she bought the house I now own.
Come on Nonie,
let's get an ice cream cone,
let's get your hair cut,
...you took me to a Barber Shop
Let's go smelt fishing, lake trout fishing,
Let's get a bike,
Let's teach you piano
and fractions
and poetry...
Robert Louis Stevenson...
Uncle Fran, never once did you say,
I Love You... you showed me...
Nonie...
