'Childhood Memories Of My Uncle' Poem by Clifford Villaflores

Childhood Memories of My Uncle

(In Memory of Danilo V. Panuncillo
1961-2011)

I was always in for a BIG TREAT,
As we walked down the busy street
Movies and food trips here and there
Stuffs we loved with my brother
It all seemed like Vanity Fair.

I remember special moments too
Of how he has helped my father and kins
In times when clouds become gray and blue
Somebody that you can lean on to.

We sometimes pause for a good book
An inspiring one as I looked
Og Mandino was the writer
“The Greatest Salesman in the World”
A novel for a prize fighter
As I read from cover to cover,
I WONDER, “WHEN IS THE STORY OVER? ”

As I reminisced those moments
I feel emptiness within my core
Grief hidden, I looked at the score.
Where art thou, My Teacher?
And the advices from the Preacher
I could no longer feel and hear.
He has taken his last breath
And the words of life flashed in his death:

“There is no better thing than adversity
Each misfortune you encounter will carry
The seed of tomorrow’s good luck.” (Og Mandino)

That is how I’ll remember him
A light shines even if the path is dim.
I asked again, IS THE STORY OVER, BOSS?
I held the book, the pages I tossed,
The answer was there, I wasn’t LOST:

“Welcome every morning with a smile
Look on the new day as another mile
From your CREATOR up above.
Another golden opportunity to complete
what you were unable to finish yesterday……”

Rest in Peace Uncle Danny.