Monday, October 5, 2026
Legacy 096 -Braxton And Virgil Barker-
Hey Dad,
It’s me, Baby B. Did you have a good day? Good Day? Father, my father, you don’t know whether to cry or rage.
Bark. It did wonders for me. And Virgil? We are our father’s sons. Bradford men. Not only the barker and the whiner. Do you think that’s why he’s been crying so much the past few days? Not hurt, and tis the season for ghosts. Is that what I am? Seriously!
Bradford, that’s my last name; don’t wear it out. But you’ve been tired of it since… Well, before we ever even met. But when we did, “From that day on, I made a vow. I’ll be there when you want me. Some way, somehow.” Would you at that, Dad? I can sing too, can’t I? And you, Dad? You were ready to war and rampage. Well, maybe not all that, but get smart, I think…
“Pinch me, pinch me
‘Cause I’m still asleep
Please, God, tell me
That I’m still asleep.”
Barenaked Ladies ‧ 2000
“Oh look, I got dressed all by myself today so La-da-da-da-dah…” Who am I to tell you what to say, Dad? How many mornings, for how many years, did you listen to me bark obscenities to anyone outside ‘our chamber door’? Edgar Allen Poe? You can’t say it’s his voice you’ve been hearing in books lately. You don’t know how much I miss that, Dad.
Lying on the couch with you as you read. Not that it was boring. No, no! It was our thing.
On an evening such as this. When it was hard to tell if I exist… What Dad? You sing and/or paraphrase songs all the time? And I am my father’s son. But I do miss these evenings. They were easy.
I was about to say that barking was hard. But you know more than anyone that making noise is too damn easy. It’s the quiet that annoys, aggravates, and gets your attention. It was with me anyway. All the crying in the world, but when I stopped those years ago…
And maybe that’s why I’m here tonight. We both value the peace and quiet, father.
However, that’s not the quiet that you have been finding all this time, hmm. Your quiet is like mine, and ending. You need the noise, the ruckus, the madness, but not from others, my father. Yours. And no, I won’t go all Sara Bareilles\Katy Perry Brave\Roar. We are Bradford men now and always. But to bark… Braxton And Virgil Barker
“The real question is this, what do we want to be?”
― Dystopian Girls 6
“Let me rage before I die.”
― Virgil, The Aeneid
2073 Days Without B III, Day 1514 of Virgil’s Arrival
Always and Forever,
Your Son
