In remembrance of our Dad on this Veterans’ Day, Raymond Edward Lyford (1920-2016), who served in the Army Air Force and flew 35 missions as a radar operator on the B-29 Superfortress Bombers in World War II. His B-29 was shot down in a jungle in China. However, the aircraft was patched back together to fly more missions, thus being dubbed “Patches” (pictured below)
strange, me
being past middle-aged
balding
& not just a little insignificant
& still looking up to
my john wayne
ted williams dad–
knowing intellectually that
there are no heroes
not really
but having to plead guilty
to the charge
of hero-worship
of romancing with my
inner schoolboy heart
the mystique of that silver
b-29
terry and the pirates
fly-boy chapter
of your story
where you
flight-suited
& bomber-jacketed
all zippers & insignia
roared the wild blue yonder
in your seat-of-the-pants
roger-wilco world
of cabin pressure
intstruments
radar bogies
mae wests
bomb-bay doors
clamoring hearts
white knuckles
bated breath
curses
&
prayers
NEARING THE END OF THE LINE 