Where’s Henry?

JENNIFER WALSH - OTHER VOICES

Editor’s Note:  “Where’s Henry?” by Jennifer Walsh was the winner of LEAF Inc’ poetry slam Friday, April 29, at UCCCA.

A loving mother,
the true definition of the word
a medic in the Air Force,
A conservative follower of our Lord
•
Full of beauty and honor,
Gambling her only vice!!!
It wasn’t until now I saw that gambling was her life…
•
Last year cancer stole her
From her kids and grandbabies
It’s strange how now after
I really learned of her disease
•
I remember coming home
to presents on our beds
I never thought how she got them
I was only a kid
•
As I grew older
my mind still naïve
She’d start sharing her secret
A new side of her I would see
•
OTB’s, tables, and games
This was how our surprises were won
Now I know what to blame,
For how she had become
•
We took trips to Turning Stone.
Starting out as so much fun.
The food, the luxury, and happiness,
But only if she won!!!
•
Jealously would strike her
as others nearby would win.
“I wanted that machine.”
As she punched in her pin.
•
Her fingers danced across the screen And she changed the lucky numbers.
“It helps my chances, you’ll see.”
As she awaited the result of the tumblers
•
$300 dollars she’d win
Thrice what she brought
She’d dwindle it down
Saying, “Just hold my spot!”
•
She’d check her accounts
No more funds to bet
A quick call to her husband
Would settle that debt
•
To her chair she’d return,
Sending us off to eat,
“I will meet you there soon,
If I leave now, I’m beat.”
•
Her temper would rise
as her money would fall
If we asked when we were leaving
The loss was OUR fault!
•
I remember her always saying,
“Just a little while longer,
I need to keep playing!”
In the van we could slumber
•
We’d be there til 1,
Sometimes 2 or 3.
We’d wish she were done,
We had school the next day!
•

I remember the good times
The times that she won
But mostly she would lose it all
And swear she were DONE
•
One time she promised
No more gambling, no frowns.
I was so proud of her
Until she confessed of Vernon Downs
•
The last weekend of her life
She requested a gambling trip
I was hesitant to take her
But it was for Isabel’s crib
•
So delicate and fragile,
She could not even walk
She finally shared a meal with me
By the end of the week she was gone.
•
She’d say she was sorry
For the money she’d lost
Call herself a loser
All this pain, at what cost?
•
Gambling would take her
From mother to monster
The things that she would say to us
While gambling we lost her
•
It seemed like she’d blackout
Once finished she’d return
The image and words stuck with us though
In our hearts and minds forever burned

•

She held the reigns
To forfeit her guilt
To overpower the pain
She just needed to quit!

•

So many memories of her,
Of her love, so pure and pristine.
But one that stands out the most
Is her and that damn “Where’s Henry” machine…