Author: Jerry Brotherton

I am The Backyard Poet and I warn you that, not only will I ramble on about nothing but, I have been known to stand upon my soapbox and rant about things I care nothing about just to hear the sound of my own voice. I will try to force my opinion upon anyone willing to pay the slightest attention.

Dementia

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Poetry, Rhyming7 Comments

You could not understand why

There was no one there that could hear you cry

You didn’t know I could feel each tear that burned you

You thought needing help was a sin

So you refused to let anyone in

While I screamed to God to show me what to do

 

You used to be so full of song

Then you found your music had long since gone

The silence crept upon you without warning

It left you very far from home

On a path you thought you must walk alone

With no one there to help you find the morning

 

For too many years late in life

After your darkness had eaten the light

And the nightmares pushed away reality

Locked away in your broken shell

Where you battled with demons from your hell

And struggled to find a way to be set free

 

I watched the spark fade from your eyes

Till your mask of life fell, without surprise

Still it left me with a heart cold and broken

I lost you in this life that’s true

I don’t know how to say goodbye to you

I’m sorry for all the words I left unspoken

Memories

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Non Fiction, Short Stories1 Comment

“Memories are the glue that holds a family together”

I could probably sum up the whole damn thing with one sentence. We are the Brothertons and there was a passel of us for sure.

From Arlie and Sylvia’s commitment to each other, 15 of us pushed and shoved our way into the world and you either loved us or hated us. Sometimes you admired us and other times prayed for the day that we would have our “come to Jesus” moment.

Among my many other faults, I am the youngest boy of the clan. I suppose the older ones loved me enough…when they cared to think of me at all. Mostly, I was just a passing thought. “Oh him, that’s just my little brother, don’t pay any mind to him and he’ll go away. I grew up with a myriad of names…brat, punk, kid, baby…but legally I was named Jerry. Or, when my mother or father believed I was in the wrong…Jerry Wayne Brotherton, get your ass in here…NOW.

However things went, my little sister and I just never seemed to catch up to the rest of the family. You see, when we had just entered our most impressionable years, we were plucked up from the beloved town of Wakenda and plopped down in another story altogether. So we would sit around and listen to all the stories, jokes and folklore about the old town like it was a shrine or something. Hell the entire town was wiped off the face of the earth in a flood so we couldn’t even go back and try to recover what we had missed. Sometimes it feels like we just never quite belonged.

So take every opportunity with your friends and family to make as many memories as you can. After all, what glue holds a family together better than the memories they share?

Enjoy Life

On By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short StoriesLeave a comment

“Enjoy Youth but Protect the Future”

This one goes out to all the younger readers. Many years ago, in the virginity of our marriage, Deb & I did not dwell on the absence of money or the scarcity of possessions. We had enough to get us through to the next paycheck and that was all we needed. Life was hard but wonderful and exciting. But now that we are, shall we say, on the elderly side of life it seems as if every penny spent has to be examined under a microscope to make sure we get the best bang.

Now I can tell you that like you the 21 year old us really didn’t give a rats behind about which bank had the best interest rate on their CD (no that’s not a music disc) and we could have cared less about 401K’s, compounded interest, or the difference between APR and APY.

But I have a message for all you young’uns’ that might be thinking the same way. I know that tax refund time is close at hand so before you run out and buy a new gun or the latest gaming system or get that 1500 dollar phone…pay attention…It’s never too early to start saving. So set a little aside.

Now mind you, I am no expert by any means. I’m just trying to knock some sense into your hormonally driven though process. I hope you will heed my advice.

Let me show you an example.

Let’s say, at the age of 25, you invested just 200 dollars a year into a 401K and assuming that you will get a 7% return…after 40 years (age 65) your 8000 dollars would be worth $41,434.Thats just $16.67 per month or $7.69 per pay period. Increase that amount to $2000 per year and you would end up with $414,261 for your $80000 investment. Not a bad nest egg to supplement Social Security. I know that the last thing on your mind is what’s going to happen to Social Security, but it is a looming question that you young people will have to get answers to. But that’s another post for a later date.

So with all the technology we have today, there are many ways to invest in your future. I could list them out here for you and profit from the links but then this advice would become more of an advertisement. And does anybody really need another click-bait. Besides, who am I to tell you how to use Google.

Enjoy your youth but protect your future. Start investing today and have a wonderful journey.

Witness

On By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short StoriesLeave a comment

“You will witness a miracle.”

 Most of us will read these words and think to ourselves, “Yeah right. Miracles, if they exist at all, only happen once in forever.” I know in the past when I thought about miracles, I believed it had to be some great event. Like aliens landing and bringing us world peace, accidently inventing a cure for cancer or winning the Powerball. We have become so out of tune with what a miracle is that we don’t see them when they happen right in front of us. Just keep your eyes and ears open to the world and watch the hundreds of miracles that occur every day.

For example, around the world 353,000 babies are born each day. Or how about the 1000 people every year that survive being shot in the head. Then there are the smallest of things, a dog finds its way home to its family after traveling hundreds of miles. A cat that has lost both front legs still walks. A flower pushes its way through the tiniest of cracks in a concrete sidewalk somewhere in the heart of the busiest cities in the world. Snow and ice melts from the bottom up. If you only pay attention, miracles are all over the place.

I know what some of you are saying, “But Jerry, all that is science not miracles.”

I say to you my friends that science is just a way of proving how miracles work. So don’t sit around and wait for that great event to happen. Rejoice each little miracle that you witness every day.

Good Morning

On By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short Stories4 Comments

 

The radio’s news pounds out yet another song of doom and gloom this morning. Same old lyrics; someone lied to a liar, someone cheated a cheater, someone stole from a thief, and everyone hates. But outside my window, the sun is in the sky. It warms my face. I take another sip of perfectly brewed tea. I watch the children play free and unashamed in the yard next door. My wife walks up behind me and hugs my neck. I thank God for allowing me another day. I reach over, unplug the radio and I throw it in the trash.