Son Dance

He’s got unlimited potential;

So say Mary and James --- expectations parental.

Saint Ignatius Jesuit Justice influential;

The boy quarterback standing tall.

Leader of men, master debater too;

Ask not what your country can do.

Give him some time --- he’ll prove it to you;

With vigor and conviction in a blazer blue.

Who shot Liberty Valance?

On his back with a bendy straw --- a broken collar bone;

Unsettling, uncertain, a world off balance;

With one hit the future is unknown.                                                                                                    

Two rounds at Georgetown --- an expatriate in France;

In monogrammed shirts, he’s made of finer clay;

He enters a room in suit, tie, clean pressed pants;

The young man has arrived --- has no plans to stay.

Open: naval gentlemen agree to discharge.

Cut wide to: beach, palms, and Piccadilly. 

Fade to tracking shot: gritty Bourbon Street, a man at large.

Cue sound: the saints go marching in, lagniappe, fleur de lis.

Pegasus flies ---  he emotes and confides;

Inner Tennis, mid city character, the dude abides;

Considering head shots, scripts and sides;

One day at a time --- by and by he presides.

The play is the thing, performance and Modern Art;

Method acting --- you’re tearing me apart;

James Bond double-o seven --- a shot in the dark;

A faith in fate, as Noah laboring in the rain with his ark.

Wiser and seasoned --- for all it means;

Brother like no other --- one from another time;

Younger or older --- be that as it seems;

Live and learn --- in retrospect just fine.

If we are here only for a while and that time has a limit;

I know this for certain --- I know this in my heart;

When the end comes like it or not – dread nor fear in it;

I will forfeit my place in line to the man more ready for the part.