Frank

(Poetry Month – Week Four)

Frank

Drunk

Sincere

Low life

Determined

Stupid

Enthusiastic

Lazy

Sweet smile

Dirty

Loving

Scary

Kind brown eyes

Sober

Finally

I met Frank when I was working as the bookkeeper at the Church of the Ascension in Middletown, Ohio. Frank led an organized yet somewhat rogue AA group.

I was at my desk working and Frank said goodbye as he walked past my office on his way out. A couple of minutes later Frank returned to tell me something. When he came back in he had a pair of red and white striped underwear on his cowboy hat. I’ve seen a lot over the years and I didn’t think much of it at the time. I also didn’t really realize it was a pair of underwear. Frank said what he had to say and we said goodbye. A couple of minutes later, Frank returned to my office without the decoration on his hat. He profusely apologized.

A few years later at an annual music event, I ran into Frank, still sober and living his best life. This poem splits what I imagined people to thought about Frank when they saw him and what I knew about Frank.