Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page

If we have an aim in life we are more likely to hit the right mark, even if at times we are amused at some of our sanctimonious fantasies, without a target we are, in a personal sense of achievement, cancelling our presence. In writing poetry, we have everything, purpose, target and completion.

Our poem this week dares to be different, yet it carries a message that is the very essence of poetry. It comes from Joseph T. Mullen of West Street, New York.

Joe is a Private Investigator, a good family man with a family business, his history is the stuff of legends. To quote The New York Times " Joe Mullen is not any Private Eye. He is the one who did the Trump case, the Mike Tyson case, worked for Johnny Carson and Linda Lavin".

MY FIRST HERO

We lived in the shadow of the Yankee Stadium

But I didn't have to pay to see him

I only had to go home for dinner

My hero was not a Superman or Batman

But he did wear two uniforms during his life

A marine uniform with a Purple Heart

And later, a New York State Trooper uniform

He didn't yell or curse

He was a quiet and good man

A husband, a father, a brother

An Uncle and a Grandfather

Did he have a name?

Yes ... He was my older brother, Frank - my own hero
He will be missed by Joseph, his brother, and his sister, Peg

© Joan McCarthy