An African Lion

Your restlessness not just your own
In a family always on the move
Crossing Atlantic and the Rio Grande
With something to prove

Your mother came from red and blue blood
A turbulent mix in Empire Britain
Where love poems by commoners
To aristocrats could not be written

She was sent by post to Mexico
Later found love with an Englishman
He took her from Texas to many places
Advancing his career plan

Your father needed to be rich
With seven children including you
Moving, moving all the time
Depending on how the wind blew

You ran away at fifteen
Lived with an Indian tribe
Were found, and transported to London
The eldest son must be civilized

But 30s London was a hard place
Great Depression and the looming war
The Nazis were in the darkness
Knocking on the door

You met your wife in Finsbury Park
Took her from a policeman
Into your lawless dance
She loved her wild Guardsman

She was a nurse and you a Grenadier
Fighting Nazis for King and Empire
From Dunkirk to the Third Reich
While a pregnant wife fled London's fire

You returned with Reichsmarks
That burnt well in that small Welsh hearth
Your daughter cared for by less worldly minds
You had mapped a different path

Your journey led away from Britain
Soaring 'cross skies like a swallow
A traveler, soldier, spy, and wildman
But wife and daughter did not follow

Oil companies paid the best
Gave you a new opportunity
You went on to South Africa
Found peace in a new community

Bigamy is a sin
But that did not stop you
Maybe you found happiness
In that place that only you knew

Cigarettes killed you at 62
Your daughter cried and gave no blame
She loved her African Lion
That America and Europe could never tame

Notes ▼

PROMPT: Open Prompt with a hint of scandal. A poem to sum up my grandfather's life
CONTEST:

FORUM

Roots & Wings Contest //CLOSED  (E) Can you capture the essence of an ancestor in one story or poem? (2013 Quill Award Winner) #1962161 by 🎗️GeminiGem🎗️

LARGER SOURCE RESOURCE:

STATIC

Fred  (13+) DRAFT: An account of the life of my Grandfather #2273658 by LightinMind

SKETCH: This was a sketch made of him by the artist named in the photo.