history rewritten

history rewritten
the man buried
was not the man
i knew
for fifteen years

in the back pew
of this side show of a
funeral
ignored by many
we sat and witnessed
lie after lie
it was
“the greatest show on earth”

they said he was
a man of god
a silent leader
strong in his faith
the man i knew
didn’t even belong to a
church

they said he
spoke to others of christ
and tried to bring them
to the lord
the man i knew
was one of the most un-christ like
that i have known

they said his
house was open
to all who needed
shelter
the man i knew
never wanted to have people over
they were too much of a
nuisance
for him to deal with

they said his
favorite song was
“old rugged cross”
in the fifteen years i knew him
he never listened to music
to him it was just noise

i sat there
moments slipping
between
horror and anger
to
sadness and despair
as his family
rewrote this man’s life
into something
it wasn’t

the man i knew
was
selfish
difficult
dishonest
tortured by his own demons

to this day
i’ll never know
why or how my mom loved him
clearly she saw
a spark
a light
in his soul
that we were
blind
to see

my mom’s presence
erased
in the video tribute
no photo of my mom
not a single one
but many pictures of
his ex-wife
the woman
who left him and the kids
and never looked back

his daughter-in-law
the major general in christ’s army
the one who threatened
to keep him from knowing
his grandkids
sang
“i can only imagine”
no, i could not
in my wildest dreams
imagine this
three ring circus
of
damaged souls

his life
after death
is not the life
he lived

bravo
standing ovation
creative license
taken to new heights
under the big red tent
step right up
and get your
souvenir
to cherish
for all eternity