papa allen

i didn't know him

i mean, i hung out with him

a handful of times

not enough

to know a man

but enough to know

that this was the beginning

beginning of something huge




i didn't know him

but i met his son

in a chance encounter

in the city of sin

that city muddled with liquid courage


stumbling stupers

a strip that's glittered

with choices that most people don't remember the next day




but the next day

his son found me

and he wrote me




i didn't know him

but something in his son

i recognized




we were a bit limited, see

in a facebook chat

just words exchanged daily

but something in his writings caught me

there was a sensitivity in every letter typed

a sentiment of everything he had ever wanted to be

all hope for humanity

and a future that reflected a glimmer of light from his past




i didn't know him

not personally

not really

but i know his son

and the man his son is becoming




he reminds me of the rarity of my family

the anomaly of a Good Thing




from what i hear of him

i've known him all my life

he's the reason

people want to be better






i was told recently he was a man of few words

which was always a surprise because his impact was immense

guess a heart that large is too busy to talk about how or when it'll beat

it just does

steadily

consistently

constantly

reliably






to really understand someone

... yeah, you gotta listen

to the beat, the timbre in their voice

the melody of their life

the harmonies of their actions

you gotta see them, really see them

spend time with them

quality time

--but sometimes you gotta stop looking at them


you gotta start looking from them

i mean, you gotta see the world as they see it

from their perspective




papa allen,

i want you to know he does

papa allen,

you can rest now knowing you did good by him

papa allen,

he adored you

papa allen,

it meant everything to him

for you to see him

as a father




so these words i write now

it's just an offering

a marker

because your legacy is obviously and apparently and concretely

limitless

but this

this is for rory

so she knows

of her papa allen

and where the light in her father

comes from