My Father's Father

My father's father
Was a hard worker,
Coaxing vegetables and fruits
From the dry earth.

My father's father
Was a hustler,
From the plantation
To his farm,
To his truck,
To his taxi,
He hustled.

My father's father
Was not a good man,
Nor was he a bad man,
He existed in that gray area
Where all flawed men reside.

My father's father
Did not know his father
And still he grew into a man
Under the eyes of his male kin,
Under the eyes of God.

My father's father
Was not an educated man,
He was an intelligent man.
A man who was taught
By the greatest teacher
That ever was.
He was taught by life.

My father's father
Lived the life he wanted,
Never kowtowing to
The oppinions of others.
A self made man, he was.

My father's father
Lived and loved,
He worked hard
And hustled harder.
He spoke proudly of
His accomplishments
And those of his children.
And when he had wrung
All he could out of his life,
He slipped away into death's arms.

My father's father
Now rests in peace
With my father's mother.