No Sure Thing

Here's a link to my you tube channel where I read my poetry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e94HWJFG9Y

It was a four-horse race at
Santa Anita.
I was with my old man and
little brother.
I put everything I had on
the number 3 horse to show.
His name was Dusty's Diaper.
Shoemaker was aboard;
the shoe, for God's sake.
It was a sure thing.
All he had to do was not
come in fourth place.

I learned that day,
in a horse race,
that anything can happen.
I was 12 years old.
And like horse racing,
In life, anything can
happen.

Amidst the California evening,
On our way to the car,
I thought my dad
would live forever.

Author's Note

On my YouTube channel, I read from my latest books: Seedy Town Blues Collected Poems, It's Just a Hop, Skip, and a Jump to the Madhouse, and Sleep Always Calls. They are available on Amazon.

The latest video on my channel is an interview I did with the Order of the Pen Magazine.

Reviews

[Pete]

we just never know. i too remember when i was young, thinking that my dad would live forever. now he's gone and i'm growing old. tomorrow is not guaranteed. when our number is up, that's it. this brought back memories and gave a stark reminder. you always seem to strike a serious chord in a playful way.

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend. I appreciate it.

[John the Baptist]

Even with a rider like Shoemaker, anything can happen in a horserace. So it is with life. The last verse speaks powerfully of the losses that are lessons for youth.

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend. I appreciate it.

[RomaJ]

Thomas, I love how this memory unfolds..the thrill of the race, the sunlight, and that quiet moment realizing life isn’t predictable. The way it ends, thinking of your dad, lingers in a tender, almost aching way. Beautifully captured.
Roma

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you so much, RomaJ

[Michael Sun Bear]

First off, I’ve never been to Santa Anita, I’ve barely been to any races at all. I always like a poem that takes me someplace new. I like how you slowly turn from the facts of the race with Dusty Diaper to using the uncertainty of horse racing as a metaphor for life and in your case the mortality of your father. The last stanza is not just sad but hit me with that uncertainty. Did he die the next day, years later? Nicely penned Thomas, an interesting approach to that universal loss we all face sooner or later.

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend. I appreciate it.

[Jansy]

My dad’s still in his 40s, and honestly, I can’t imagine life without the man...or my mom. I try to visit as often as I can. I’ve got younger siblings too, and I hate missing out on their little moments. So whenever I’m home, I do my best to make the time count, to build those core memories while we still can. Poems like yours remind me how precious that really is.
James☆

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you. Life is short.

[red93]

Great Work Thomas - how you use the horse racing as the main motif, and then spin off with the ending. Exceptional ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[Lara]

So readily we get comfortable with our presumptions, Thomas - don't we... Take so much for granted, it's second-nature to us: the complacency of expectation inebriates reality in a shiny gloss, until...

[Thomas W Case]

So very true. Thanks.

[Neville]

Dang, if I didn't know better then I would never have guessed that to die for summative line would hit so hard or so perfectly .. Neville

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[Soren]

Indeed anything can happen and does. A great narrative with a moral

[Thomas W Case]

So very true. Thanks.

[Soren]

Most welcome Thomas