Down on all four knees,
a child perched on his back
neighing and whinnying,
the man-horse pranced
while children laughed,
and parents smiled.
Dad’s single friend
who helped him tend bar
and recover from war
with laughter and cheer,
was always happy, and ever near.
He was best-buddy to Dad
and to Dad’s every child.
Ping-pong bouncing on the dining table,
boosts up into climbing trees,
breaking falls while running alongside
learners on tricycles and bicycles,
skipping stones across a pond,
baiting a hook for the squeamish,
even playing dolls…
All the things children liked were his forte.
He knew how to simply play.
Until the day
his mother died.
Then, his fiancee ran away
from his sadness and dismay,
or so, I heard Dad say.
Sadness broke his heart.
Electro-shock broke his mind.
Nothing could break the soul
of a man so loving and kind.
The rest of his long life he wandered
streets empty and alone
except on days Mom dragged him
off the street, into the car, and home.
Clean clothes, a shower and shave
before he could sit at the table with us
and eat the feast mom prepared,
the aroma tempting him to sit without a fuss.
Children’s chatter soon shattered
The peace he felt for too short a time.
Despite our pleas to stay and play,
his alarmed eyes jumped and explained
he felt he had to get away.
And so he left us, once again,
to wander all alone.
No longer safe inside,
he hid on the streets,
in his new home among the homeless.
Play left our home those days.
annarino writes 
It’s so interesting to see this glimpse of Leo. We only knew him after – we never knew him in the before. Thank you!
And he was always loveable. Glad to share this early glimpse.