Grampy

My mother's father was a special guy -- although we weren't around him as much as my father's father. He has still influenced my life.

Grampy
By Larry Linville

My Grampy was always a stranger to me
His vagabond nature made him rare to see.
He and Grammy dropped in once in a while
But they didn’t stay long—then they left with a smile.

He was jack of all trades and master of none.
But his stories all claimed he was number one.
A newspaper man without a Pulitzer prize
But he claimed he had one without blinking his eyes.

With trumpet in hand he made the great claim
That he invented jazz --but he never had fame.
He wrote many marches and led many bands
But when his help was needed he had injured his hands.

When we asked him to prove his great claims about jazz
We said we hadn’t heard it and nobody has.
He said “you can look it up in the book.”
Then walked away with his smug little look.

When he started his stories we sat back in doubt.
With a smile on each questioning face.
We knew he was lying but he said it so well
As he loudly presented his case

It finally hit me – how he influenced my life
At first I just took a wild stab.
Now I’m convinced from the depth of my heart
He gave me the great gift of gab.

© Copyright 2007 Larry Linville (UN: larrylinville at Writing.Com).
All rights reserved. Larry Linville has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.