In the breakup with my last girlfriend before Salomé, I left a trunk full of personal items behind that my ex threatened to throw out. She never actually did throw it out but I never got it back either. There were a lot of things in that trunk I'd like to get back, not the least of which are a bunch of my grandfather's poems and lyrics that my mother gave to me after he passed. Isaac LeCharles Harper was a small-time record producer in the 60's, back when people weren't properly credited and were regularly cheated out of royalties. Among his claims to fame were housing Gladys Knight before she made it big and writing the lyrics to A Thin Line (Between Love and Hate). I remember when I first got into the slam scene and my mother had read a few of my early poems, she commented about how he never needed to use bad words to make his point. Not the subtlest of hints, over time, I grew less and less reliant of the shock value of "fuck," et al, to the point where my mother can read 90% of my work and not have a problem with it.

Anyway, I was thinking about my grandfather recently as I still haven't been able to find my wedding ring and I'm wearing a ring of his that my mother gave me a couple of years ago, once I'd proven myself to be relatively stable and responsible. That means married with kids, I think. I'm not big on jewelry, can't stand to wear most of it, but this ring of his is kind of cool. It's gold and some shiny things that may or may not be diamonds (bling! bling!) and fits my ring finger perfectly. I remember he was always well-dressed, rarely leaving the house in anything but a suit. He wore hats like nobody's business, too. Stylish. Always had candy in his pockets for the kids and something nice to say to the ladies, young and old, that swooned in his presence. He was the kind of smooth you don't see anymore. It was sincere and unaffected.

I wish he'd lived long enough to see me get my act together. Don't really believe in the whole afterlife thing but, on the off chance it's true and he's got internet access, I hope he knows that I think about him now and then and hope he's proud of me...