100 QUESTIONS

A hundred questions 
cross my mind
	What was that song dad used to hum?
	What college did my mom attend?
	Where did Aunt Marge’s friend come from?
I failed to ask
	or make a note
	of many things 
	while they were here
	just within reach
        alive and near.

A hundred questions
cross my mind
              About Dad’s mom
              who died so young.
              I’ve no idea what she died from.

My favorite stories too are gone
               The battleship
               for whom Dad played
               Hail to the Queen
               a serenade.
               
               Salts stood attention at the rail
               Dad asked them down to 
               drink and sail.
	       He went onboard to drink instead.

These questions come
at oddest times
	  Old photos with the names now gone
          A tune, a food, a place, a song
          I wonder and will wonder long.