by Robert “Bob” Bussey
Richard Moriarty, who is called Big Daddy or Big by his grandkids, has been a resident of the CenLA area all his life. In fact, he is the longest living employee of the City of Alexandria, having worked for the city for some 65 years.
He told me he “just doesn’t know the word STOP.” He just was not meant to sit around in his senior years. He currently oversees the retirement system for the City and cares for some 400 city retired employees. He calls them “his people.” And, although he has worked in finance most all of his life, he considers himself a people person. Big is 86 years old and still works a full day. I don’t know many other 68-year-olds who can say the same thing.
Richard started writing poetry some 15 to 18 years ago. And, like many poets, he went through several tragedies that quickly and strongly brought deep emotions to the surface. He lost his first wife, Lydia, and at some point, after that started to wrestle with a mental illness problem with a close family member. As with many poets who have tragic and grief ridden experiences, he authored many poems about loss and grief early on. But not so much anymore. While he still writes poetry, he is concentrating on the “Book of Big – the Faith of our Father” a series of devotionals, some of which are poems, on a broad range of topics. Big (I will refer to him as Big from now on) does not intend to publish the Book of Big. It is being written for his grandchildren and it is Big’s desire that they find a grain or two of wisdom from the book as they continue to grow.
Some of his work has been published. The “Rivers of Time” was published in 2012 by WestBow Press a publishing company out of Indiana. He told me that they still contact him about authoring another book of poems, but in his gentle, people manner, he has declined to do so. “Rivers of Time” can be found at Amazon, the Christian Book website, and other locations. Also, some of this work has gone viral in our internet world. One of his devotionals, and his grandkids will find this in the “Book of Big,” called “The Train, had some 300,000 hits on one internet site and over a million on another. I guess that makes Big a successful author/poet. “The Train” is set out below, with that graphic artwork that goes with the prose. It is filled with metaphors from beginning to end, and advice about the loss of people in our lives.
THE TRAIN
At birth, we boarded the train and met our parents, and we believe they will always travel by our side. As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant: our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of our life. However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone. Others will step down over time and leave a permanent vacuum. Some, however, will go so unnoticed that we don’t realize they vacated their seats. This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells. Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers requiring that we give the best of ourselves.
The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way: love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are. It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seats empty we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.
I wish you a joyful journey for the coming years on your train of life. Reap success, give lots of love, and be happy. More importantly, thank God for the journey!
Lastly, I want to thank you for being one of the passengers on my train!
While this is technically prose, I thought it was a good beginning piece to let you see where Big is coming from. Much of his work, poetry or otherwise, has a religious, Christian, tone, depth, background. Big is not afraid to tell anyone that all of our gift’s flow from God, including the ability to write poetry and prose. With that said, let’s move onto some of his poetic work. The first one is
titled “The Goodness of God” a title that Big took from the song by Bethel Music & Jen Johnson. If you want to listen to the song to get an idea of where the following poem comes from you can do so at the following:
https://youtu.be/n0FBb6hnwTo?si=rdugmfj75BY8TZG
https://youtu.be/9sE5kEnitqE?si=3ulZMI4fBFON0EAg
Or you can just go to YouTube and search for it. Big sent me the poem before we met for the interview. I looked at it and saw that it was in a formal poetic style called a quatrain (4 lines per stanza and 8 syllables per line (Octosyllabic for you poetry junkies) … as best the poet can do, and also had a rhyming pattern in each stanza.) When I interviewed Big, he told me that he never intended, nor did he set out to write a poem in quatrain style. It just happened. Quite the happening! Big has never studied poetry on a formal level and does not intend to do so. Instead, he writes from his heart. You will easily detect the religious tone to this work. This is one of the devotional poems that is in the “Book of Big” being written for his
grandchildren.
THE GOODNESS OF GOD
In realms where stars in brilliance gleam,
There lies a goodness, vast, supreme.
In whispers soft, in tempests wild,
In every breath, in every child.
A tapestry of light and grace,
Unfolding in each time and space.
Through darkest nights and brightest days,
God’s goodness shines in countless ways.
In gentle whispers of the breeze,
In verdant fields and towering trees.
In laughter shared, in tears we weep,
In every soul, in every keep.
When shadows fall and doubts arise,
His goodness stands, a bound less prize.
For in the depths of human need,
His love and mercy ever lead.
Though storms may rage and trials may loom,
His goodness breaks through deepest gloom.
With hands outstretched, His grace untold,
In goodness, God’s pure heart unfolds.
So let us lift our voices high,
And sing of goodness in the sky.
For in His love, forever trod,
We find the essence of our God.
One of his other poems, this one in free verse style, again brought out the religious aspect of Big’s writings. This one is about how we take so many things for granted in our lives. The poem is dedicated to one of Big’s grandchildren.
WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE?
If the day would begin without the sun,
what a dreary day that would be.
If all the flowers that grew in a garden had no smell,
what a totally sad day that would be.
If the birds of the air flew but didn’t call,
how silent would the world become.
If all the people in the world were adults only,
how totally depressing would the world be.
If the laughter of others were silenced,
how still the world would become.
If the world were without God,
what would become of you and me?
If there were no Son of the Most High,
what chance of life after this life would it be.
If I didn’t have you to lean on,
who would look after me.
But there is a beauty in this world: a smell, a noise, a laughter, children,
and most mercifully a loving God, who gave us His Son.
There is always hope, and smiles and a promise of eternal life,
and thankfully; there is you, who brings so much to me.
As I indicated at the start, Big is not afraid to take on big issues. From a
close family member having mental health issues, Big has had to confront many
questions concerning that family member. What will happen in the future to that
member? What is the best, kindest avenue, for caring for that person? Big sets out
those issues and in metaphorical fashion helps the reader delve into the mind of
someone who has mental health issues. Big dedicated this poem as follows:
“Dedicated to all of those individuals who feel trapped in the darkness of their
lives, and to all of those persons who aid in unlocking the Closets of Their Lives.”
CLOSETS OF OUR LIVES
Dark shadows drift against a wall
deep gloom penetrates the prisons of our souls
things that live from a darkened past
dominate lives that have surrendered with continually downcast eyes keeping us
locked in the closets of our lives.
Locked in a perpetual state of the past
prisoners of tear-stained days
and continuing nights of gloom
not allowing a light to break into our hidden rooms
lost souls surrendered to a darkened past
keeping us locked in the closets of our lives.
Walking through the shadows of today
memories of a heartache of yesterday
weigh heavily on us each passing day
keeping us locked in the closets of our lives.
Living with the trials of our lives
bitter tears streaming down pale cheeks
not able to walk in the light of day
keeping us chained to the wall
of the closets of our lives
Clenched fists pound on locked doors
screams for help go unheard
bitter tears stream from blood-shot eyes
keeping us locked in the closets of our lives
The turn of a key is faintly heard
the call of a voice softly through the door
brings signs of faint rays of light
as someone opens the closets of our lives.
A day of hope has arrived
help comes at long, long last
as a smiling face is seen in the bright of the day
freeing us from the closets of our lives.
At any day of the week, you can find Big down at City Hall taking care of his people. Outside of work, you can probably find him working on his “Book of Big” or perhaps dancing with his current wife, Janet. If you like the prose and poetry by Big, you can find more at the following:
https://accordingtorichard.blogspot.com/2010/01/history-150-years-of-service-trinity.html
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_poet_read.aspx?ID=24662
https://allpoetry.com/Richard_Moriarty
Robert Bussey is a local attorney and poet who has resided in CenLa since 1986. He interviews other poets and then writes these articles to help promote poetry. You can reach him at Rlbussey450@icloud.com if you are a poet and would like to be interviewed.
