Melanie C. Campos ~ MahTame

GRANDPA RHOADES

Grandpa
you’re still
my hero
beneath my wings
even though you died long ago

You’ve changed
my life
greatly
grandpa
through all your love
and appreciating all of me

I loved playing
the piano
for you
sonatas and melodies
lulling thy eyelids
to close for some zzzzzzʼs

Remembering
much of
the garden
helping
with picking fruits
and getting lots of veggies

Lessons
grandpa
a teacher too
taught us fishing ‘n’
skills of a country life
getting the eggs and feeding

The farm
the Diamond R
the love you had
for grandma
you were our strength
forever miss you, my grandpa

Author’s Note: I want to share a poem I wrote about my grandpa Rhoades. He is the one really who has changed my life. The lives of many of my siblings, cousins, and many students he taught in his life. So much he shared, and he always had a story to tell, adventures to talk about, and pictures to show. He is not Kiowa, but of Great Britain. He had a hard time letting my grandmother go to the Kiowa dances, but when us grandkids came around and always prepared to dance, he loosened up and let her accompany us. I am ever grateful; she was such a blessing and teacher also. So much to say about my grandpa: I loved him sooooooo much, he was a safe person in my life, practically the only one, and we loved visiting him on his farm, 5 miles north of the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma. Called “The Diamond R” that was their namesake. Some poems have been written of that area, and so many good memories. So many memories indeed! One day, I will write a story of “The Diamond R”… perhaps. I miss my grandpa, I still mourn for him.

Submitted for the June 2008 IWVPA Club Theme Project, “The Person Who Changed My Life”