Choices and Chance

I don’t suppose my father ever saw it coming.

Had mother a clue, she may have stayed home

Instead of attending the dance. Everyone takes their

Chances, and is left to live with the consequences.

In the supermarket of life there are many choices:

Some prefer the generic; others will settle for

Nothing less than the brand-name best. The runaway

Train misses you by seconds and your best friend

Winds up at the wrong place in time. Father had his

Dreams; mother saw things completely differently.

There are no winners in that scenario. You buy a

Ticket expecting a lighthearted comedy and live

Through a wide-screen, 3D horror film instead. Shit

Happens, and you deal with it. Somehow I’ve managed

To make it this far heading into my seventieth year of

This fairytale. I too opted to attend the dance on a day

I would have been better off staying home. Today, I find

Myself eating dinner alone off a mishmash assortment

Of bowls and plates. Father lived into his eighty-ninth

Year, and my guess is he never saw it coming.

Chris Hanch 10-6-16