Tag: Future Wife

Gospel 293 ~Braxton Paws Is Love~

WillLeave a comment

The day I lost my son, there went my remaining love. At first, love was like a river that continued to flow, my tears, the hoodie I wear, the music. Then because of some asshole, my “peace” was shattered and replaced by Anger. “Braxton Paws Is Love.”

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Gospel 293 ~Braxton Paws Is Love~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, so I’m gonna love you now. Hell, when Braxton and I had nothing, I loved him.

I love Braxton still as I love you, our children, the life we have created together. For the past Seventy-Nine Days, I have found that DENIAL has blocked and muted everything. THEY say that love is not only what you say but what you do. A Man Provides baby girl.
Feeling it and doing it, though? It’s like Braxton paused love. I’m starting to understand how THEY say you can’t love another until you love yourself. Now I never liked that. In truth, it’s a lie because I hated myself, but when B III came into my life… Wow, it’s like the same thing. He paused my hatred, the wind, the wrath. To think I complained that he distracted me but what about right now.

You are doing your best, My Love. I am not asking you for anything. Okay, you say Let Me Love You. I’m not trying to be one of those broken men who need saving ever. As you say, When You Say Nothing At All… it’s the only way I can love you right now. At the very least, I will do no harm, and it saddens me further I have to say such a thing. To have lost such love as that of my son. Then to have the evils of men reawaken my ANGER. God, it has been so easy to cocoon myself in my DENIAL. Love, always and forever. Braxton’s remains in a box, and that’s how I feel. I’m Sitting In Limbo, I hope. It was better.

Indeed, I was but until the fucking tattooed arms of men. I dare not turn my ANGER towards the innocent. It was such rage that led to such apathy. Soon I may have time to love again. Who seeks time to hate? It’s why I lie with you now as every time I get up… That’s what feeds my fury. The fact that another black man found it fitting to steal my peace as my Old Man did. I go to say bye to my boy, and my heart beats faster. My blood boils. With these hands, oh My Love I’d love, write, pet my fallen son again yes, yes. Mourn alongside me, but I won’t make you Lady Macbeth. Love… Braxton Paws Is Love.

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 286 ~Can’t Buy B Love~

WillLeave a comment

B was here when I was gaming. I haven’t picked up a controller in months. He was here when I was doing my thing to make money. Such a bad attitude for a writer, but I love it and him, and if I were getting paid, might he be alive? “Can’t Buy B Love.”

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Gospel 286 ~Can’t Buy B Love~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but I’m not saying you’re a gold digger. If you’re asking anything… where is the love?

Now make no mistake, I love you more each and every single day. I love our children, which is why you know that Braxton’s passing is hard. Where is the love? It’s sitting in a box on the nightstand; it’s hanging around my neck. Baby Girl, it’s in Braxton’s bedroom. It is funny, isn’t it seeing as how he never used it unless we um… yep he was just one of the kids, my firstborn. A softer bed wouldn’t have helped the situation. In the end, I would have spent my last dime on fries, but he didn’t want food. I only want to be with you. That’s my Braxton. Also, you too. If it’s not song references, should I compare thee to my dog all day? Maybe not, hmm?

I’m comparing you to the only love I have ever known for almost sixteen years. He was worth everything I own; well, we own now. I waste cash on myself, no doubt. Only it was B III that made me want to work so hard, to give him so much, and I didn’t try enough. It’s as if I can’t find the balance, My Love. Love wasn’t enough to save him. While I doubt all my fortune would have done anything, it would have been worth a try or something. With you, I give all this wealth but what you’re not feeling is any love from it. I still try. Baby Doll, that’s what I promise, that I will always try, and it is there.

I told you once before how I’m into Aloe Blacc’s “Wake Me Up.” There are these two lines in particular: “Life’s a game made for everyone. And love is the prize.” Love isn’t such a thing. No, love is the instruction manual, and I just lost mine. So, continue, insert quarters? It’s better than me walking away, deciding I don’t want to play anymore, then what? I wouldn’t rob you of Player 2, but I lost Braxton, and I need time to learn this game again. Have you had enough of my game analogy yet? I haven’t been spending on gaming. Hell, the quiet is killing me, but we have to pay for that too in Life. Will you lay here? Can’t Buy B Love.

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 279 ~A Link To Braxton~

WillLeave a comment

Braxton for nearly sixteen years was my family, no is family, forever and always. With all the tornados still I grab “him” while I hide. Well not really I put him under the stairs and go sit on the couch. A Link To Braxton, it’s dangerous to go alone

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Gospel 279 ~A Link To Braxton~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, so it’s dangerous to go alone. Take this. The “this” was my Braxton, and without him…

Link had his sword, as did King Arthur with Excalibur and Captain America with his shield and Mjolnir for a bit. I could go with King Ezekiel and Shiva, Sango and Kirara. Um, All Dogs Go To Heaven, but Hell has Cerberus too. Yes, Love you married a nerd, ha. You’re my Player 2 but Braxton… If I were to go into everything my little boy meant to me, I would never stop. Have I come close yet, as it’s been two months? How long did I pursue you even though it was “Love At First Sight?” It was the same with B III Love. You must be getting sick of me with these comparisons, but he was the greatest life I have ever known.

So “Excuse me, Princess,” a Legend of Zelda reference. I’m more like “You are My Queen,” but even Daenerys didn’t have to watch ALL her Dragons die. We have our legacy, My Love, but still, I mourn my Dragon, my Dæmon, my dog, dearest Braxton. These days I’m lost, Baby Girl. I’m in the dungeon (not the playroom). I’m not supposed to be here because if the hero was all alone without… anything, he would die. I am dying, and even now, I know B III is telling me to carry on. Forgive me, B, but I don’t know how? Or I do as “A Man Provides,” but why don’t I want to. Do princesses need saving, the prince a mentor, and you, my Queen?

I hear you singing to me, “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Only I’m a boy that misses petting his dog. The kids want to run around at the park, and all I want is Braxton barking away in the yard. Everything I have in the kitchen with my “Left Hand Free” and right too. Baby Doll, I can no longer carry my boy, and that’s when I had practically nothing but him. A seven-pound ball of fluffy goodness who my father, my sister, and so many others think of as some NPC in life. Braxton was the purpose, the Triforce, all the Pokémon, the endgame. And in trying to find him I fear I’m losing us My Love. I need A Link To Braxton.

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 272 ~Braxton In The Mercedes~

WillLeave a comment

Maybe I’m dehydrated. Braxton got like that once, a little dog like that walking in the southern heat? My diet could use a change; I’m living off Walmart wings and Subway. Grateful I have a car, but nobody is riding shotgun. “Braxton In The Mercedes”

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Gospel 272 ~Braxton In The Mercedes~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but as the song goes, Money “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Of course, the jury’s still out.

The businesses I’m in… Hell, I know more than most. Did I ever tell you that when I was young, I wanted to be a veterinarian? How about the fact that Braxton was a gift and not to me but my sister? He wasn’t even the first dog I ever watched die; a puppy’s blood. People can be so STUPID, My Love. Myself included, or so I’ve been thinking since… well, you know when. I took Braxton’s love for granted, and now yours, the children’s, I keep none for myself. It all comes back to me, or as I keep saying, “A Man Provides.” There’s plenty of men that do that, and how little do they know about love. My father, I hate the bastard.

Still, he’s the one that bought Braxton. As Shakespeare wrote, “My only love sprung from my only hate!” My father, um accused me of murder. As I stood in the parking lot that day delivering the news that my little B III had passed. But it wasn’t the accusation, though. What do I mean by accusation? It is what it is. B is gone because of me. You say that’s me hating myself, and I think, that’s the whole point, well two? Understand the first is easiest to bear as I watch you and the children, our family, what remains of us, All Of Me. Always and forever, “even if I come back, even if I die,” you’ll want for nothing. But there’s my love.

You want that back, Baby Girl. I love you and our family, but do you know how many times my father said that to me. How many times did I say it to Braxton daily?

This brings me to my dream last night. I dreamt I was Edmond Dantes, and you were my Mercedes. You asked me did I suffer, and no, I was not in the Chateau d’If. It was with Braxton’s death. I begged you, pleaded with you not to rob me of my hate as Edmond had. I watched you, my father, take my weapons. It wasn’t any love but an arsenal leaving me with nothing; my second point. My father taught me I deserved neither love nor hate because I’m nothing.

Before you, I had always been a fool. I became a best friend, a father. Now I may lose it all. I have lost it all, but no, you’re still here, but I see the man in the mirror these days. I want to take him away from you. Braxton wouldn’t have that, but no love, no hate. What’s left? In my dream, it was my old car. Braxton didn’t die in a car, but I was buried alive in salt inside after losing everything.

It was only a dream because you’re here, but I’m not… Braxton In The Mercedes

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 265 ~Hair of the Braxton~

WillLeave a comment

I was never much of a drinker. No, I wasn’t one of the “Cool Kids.” It wasn’t that I was trying to be good. But for whoever I share my life with, I want to be. For fifteen years, eleven months, that was Braxton. Without that love? Hair of the Braxton

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Gospel 265 ~Hair of the Braxton~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but not even that is enough to bring Braxton back to me. Well, there’s Braxton fur…

You know I don’t drink My Love and alcohol won’t help anything. I did say I don’t indulge, but you can ask my second BFF and one glass of wine. Yet, at this rate, saying I was drinking in excess might be better than drowning myself in tears “One More Night.” Yeah, what’s one more sad song? It wouldn’t matter if I was working the ole Day Job or my dream job. “Every Day Is Exactly The Same.” What an insult that is to my boy? My apathy is what led to his death because he was always there. I was whatever, but B? Baby girl, I focused on things that didn’t matter. So Braxton, who I love, paid for my ennui with his life.

Now I’m doing it again. Yes, I see that now, and the thing is, I don’t give a damn. Braxton’s Life Matters, and if I had treated him as such before, he might still be here. Only no, he has the food in his bowl, he has his water, so he cries for one night; by morning, B’s just fine. I’ve been losing myself to the madness of this world. I lost my boy, my firstborn. Now it’s the background noise. Do you know what caught my ear in that ruckus? Is Hank a Good Father? Hank Hill from King of the Hill, so I demanded an answer from myself. “What Makes A Good Man?” How about your husband and the daddy of our kids?

The best lover and friend, the best daddy I can, as Will Smith put it. Without a doubt, I don’t want to be my father. How dare I right with everything? I don’t want our kids to hate me. If a child wakes up believing the whole world is against him and his father too? That’s something good I’ll remember about Braxton’s eyes. In his final hours, suffering, and dying he saw me, and I could hear him saying. “Daddy, can we go home. Daddy, I want to stay with you.” I look at you and my family now, and you don’t feel that way?

Drunk on you, on love, for now, I’m sober. I need love; I know that. Some Hair of the Braxton

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will


Gospel 258 ~On Braxton’s Big Day~

WillLeave a comment

I’m not the man I was. The man I was before Braxton… can’t say I miss him. To be full of love and then, I don’t know it doesn’t vanish. He’s like the source and like a lake or his water bowl I sit; life but going nowhere. “On Braxton’s Big Day.”

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Gospel 258 ~On Braxton’s Big Day~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but Braxton… he was the best, destined to be my best man, big brother, but bye?

Best man is by far my selection for him. Only four women ever won his heart. So it’s no coincidence that I love (or am especially fond of them as well). Of course, one of them was you. Hell, if he had lived to see the women are girls would grow up to be someday. Braxton loved his grandma, although she forgot him here or there. Like father like son. His aunt and/or his first mom… I know that sounds weird to say; insert a southern joke here. I’ve told you about Indiana Gone and how he jumped all over her resulting in “The Talk.” He really liked her, but when it came to you, it was like “this one.” B didn’t steer me wrong.

Big brother is watching you. I remember when he knew he would have siblings. I believe he loved watching the beans grow more than French fries, cheese, and hot dogs combined. He was easy to forgive now that he wasn’t growling about lunch/dinner sharing habits. It was always a promise between him and me. A daddy, a mommy, a brother, a sister, another sister. You and I, My Love, kept at it. Braxton never complained. If I had my old Day Job, he might have lost his mind, but B was the one who could come to my new job. It was one thing to be kept out when you and I would… Now he’s trapped with the kids. Why he still has bed privileges.

“Bye Felicia,” I’m sure he wanted to say to you when he realized he lost a whole side of the bed. How about when I walk in with food, and he sees all the hands reaching for stuff. It’s called family. Braxton, you wanted one; I wanted the same. Take a look at me now.
“Bye, daddy, I have to go, look out for them, love them as I love you,” I ask you. My Love, have I done that. B isn’t here to play outside with the kids now, but what about me? B III had his favorite toy because I couldn’t bring myself to let the vet do “that” to him, um no. Best Man, Big Brother, Best friend but what about me?

Be the person your dog thinks you are? I wasn’t much before him, to be honest. Now it’s like I don’t feel like being anything. While I’m quoting the wise though, for you dear wifey, “a man provides” real enough. I have, I will, but like my father, that doesn’t only mean paying the bills. I won’t lie, you know how I have feared you would break my heart but Braxton… My firstborn, first love that loved me back, hell my first knight. When will I be “myself?” I’m sorry, I don’t know, baby girl. Still On Braxton’s Big Day

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 251 ~Worries And Wrinkles Braxton~

WillLeave a comment

I must be getting old, as I don’t know what I’m saying anymore. Has it really been only thirty-seven days so far? To be fair, how am I supposed to be looking into the future now? Love can’t tell time, and still, I have “Worries And Wrinkles Braxton.”

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Gospel 251 ~Worries And Wrinkles Braxton~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now and still a father. Only when you lose a child… and I know, how dare I.

I’ve been getting that a lot for five weeks. People telling me what my son IS, WAS, NOT. Waking up “late” this morning, I saw this thing on Youtube about Leela from Futurama. They thought she was an “Alien” initially, but she was a “Mutant” actually. Because she was an alien, that made her special but being a mutant would have her living in the sewer. There are also those people that lavish great attention on their pets. Hell, they’re treated better than people. Love, being not only a feeling but action, I find myself amongst them. Eternally, Braxton will be my son. There were only fifteen years, one month in my arms. One month, one week, two days, gone. We grew old; we grow old together. Love never dies.

“Love can’t tell time,” either, as I heard in a movie once. I met him when I was around twenty-one. My love, when we got together, um, wow. As the song goes, “and they call it puppy-love” and somebody else, “you say it’s puppy love, we say it’s full-grown,” yep. Young people right, and then we had our kids, and suddenly I’m an “Old Man.” I still envision how that would be for Braxton. How many times have I said it, B III with a little beard? His tan hair is turning grey as he lay there between the children protecting them. Painful for them to see how this turned out, and I would worry. You worry about me going crazy, thirty-seven days and counting.

Braxton’s first day of “school” was when I had to go out of town. I took him in, hoping he would make friends and be happy. He had the girls chasing him; I had to give him “the talk.” On those last days, the words “I’ll help you” keep echoing in my ears. Did I?
Then I’m supposed to act like, what a “dog owner?” My Olds have already returned to “factory settings” after what “three weeks.” My mother told me she was glad I wasn’t dead, and my “father…” let me know if you find someone who knows he has a son at all. Like father like son, how much did I acknowledge Braxton and my love for him? My Worries And Wrinkles Braxton.

I Am Afraid Without Braxton

Gospel 244 ~Groovy Braxton’s Growling Goodness~

WillLeave a comment

Braxton got a collar… a dog is a lifetime commitment or theirs. He’d freak out about his, then I think about putting a “rock” on a girl’s finger? For now, there’s only the black chain around my neck reminding me of Groovy Braxton’s Growling Goodness.

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Gospel 244 ~Groovy Braxton’s Growling Goodness~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, which explains your even bigger ring. Braxton has three (collars) noticed. The nightstand, bed, my pendant.

Goodness, what am I getting to today? It’s not that comedy comes in threes. It still hurts to laugh, or it feels wrong. I’ve never been a man of laughter, and neither was B III, but we had our moments. So how else are we supposed to tell if something is good or not? As the poem goes, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Of course, I couldn’t hope to do such words justice, but I might do far better than Braxton. Yet he could never say he loved me, but I believe B did; he does. I told him every day. But Braxton, sheesh.
All this you’ve heard, him freaking out about his collar or giving me his favorite toy.

Are you ready to kill me yet comparing puppy love to our love? Didn’t think so because “My Love Is Your Love,” and I’m sure this is still hurting you too. Again Braxton wasn’t too fond of you at first but to see us hurting like this? He tried to fight as long as possible. “It Must Have Been Love” when he growled at me to stay in your arms. I know the feeling. No disrespect, Baby Girl, but no doubt the best hugs came from Braxton. Maybe it’s because I gave instead of received, and he let me. It was like getting his second collar.
The one that still rests in his bed that I always carry. I can hear him even now growling.

Groovy and hip, though, that’s what I thought when the ladies gave me his brand-new collar. Wishful thinking, huh, that being around other people and “kids” made him more mellow. I wouldn’t consider myself that way, My Love but the person I was before Braxton…

These days without him, without Braxton urging me in his own way to be good. Not to be so wrathful as I once was. Being I don’t know who without him and shouldn’t I do that already My Love? I have you and our children, I know. We all have A Groovy Kind of Love. I love you. Braxton didn’t just “belong” to me; he is my best friend, a brother, my son. His life was mine but mine. “I shall but love thee better after death,” don’t I now?

Am I talking about the Force or some new age philosophy, my love for the written word? Braxton was all about free love. When I met you, My Love, Braxton turned all Make Love, Not War. His world was full of sunshine, flowers, and of course, he provided enough fur and hair. Now comes the Rainbow Bridge, as they say. Why did they have to make it even MORE perfect by taking him? Circles of life; how many are there? I’m not hip or groovy without Groovy Braxton’s Growling Goodness.

I Am Afraid Without Braxton

Gospel 237 ~B Leave In Love~

WillLeave a comment

I’ve seen plenty of people go in a variety of ways. Some, I think, gave themselves too much credit. Give me one lousy night, maybe a week, and I move on. Braxton though; some say God is Love, B III is Love and losing him to let it go. B Leave In Love

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Gospel 237 ~B Leave In Love~

Dear Future Wife,

I AM a Billionaire right now but like the songs… AHEM, Money Can’t Buy Me Love. My Love Don’t Cost A Thing.

I believe I’ve spent more in twenty-three days on Braxton than I have in the last months of his life. Hell, I still am. I want more frames, candles, a pedestal for his room. Of course, you know this. On my phone is a reminder for “HomeAgain” Renewal every week. Believe me; I won’t be taking it off any time soon. I won’t stop talking to him or doing any of the stuff we’ve been over this month. Forever I’ll say routine, but how do you stop loving someone, baby girl. That’s what people don’t get about this; obsession, mourning? B leaves, and I’m like this. Everyone else? I do kiss and tell, I’ll admit, but I’m talking about one night. Someone got three novels.

B leaves, and the ink is trying to outrun the tears. The sweat will never clean the blood from my hands. Can we not talk about the stuff they filled him with? That’s what I’ve been thinking the past few days. Did B leave, or did I let him go, like oh so many times? “B III, go play” when I would send him outside. How many opportunities did I miss? What about when I wanted alone time? One more reason for morning showers and very late nights. He didn’t care much for you. At first, I know, but I was in Love and Braxton… B III he didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to hurt either, and I wanted to show my Love.

Believe me; I understand this song more than ever “Only know you love (him) when you let (him) go.” He knew, which is why he chose to hide under the bed and walk to his water, to stand there calmly as we drove. In his absence, he wanted me to love myself, to be ready. B III would leave me with his toy. Braxton even got around to leaving me with you. His Love for me extended to him wanting to protect our children. He loved them and wouldn’t want to leave them. So he looked to his daddy, and I asked him to leave.

“B III, it’s okay. You can go. You can leave.” Such Love, him, me you, us, B Leave In Love

I Am Afraid Without Braxton

Gospel 230 ~Beauty And The Braxton~

WillLeave a comment

My sister got Braxton hooked on Disney once upon a time. He was a little beast but also a prince, and what can I say about myself. In a way, he made me somebody else’s “prince charming” because if I could love him? “Beauty And The Braxton.”

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Gospel 230 ~Beauty And The Braxton~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, which means I must like a lot, love more, or share with my dear little Braxton.

You can thank my second BFF for teaching him how to get along with you. It took her about three maybe four months. After Braxton crawled all over her for a few minutes, he was all but willing to let her stay. Like Father like Son? When it comes to people and before I met you, I had a saying. If you’re not my dog, my girl, or applying for the position, don’t touch me. Now I still can’t think about another furry kid. Yes, I have you, my love, so other women… Yeah, I’m not crazy, or am I? I’m not the “BEAST” I once was, but I’m still losing it. Can you see why I’m so afraid of losing us? But losing Braxton…

He had a beautiful life… he “is” a beautiful life. I still won’t say “he was.” I tell myself, I try so hard, but where was I at noon? TRADITION… Braxton and I would usually be asleep anyway. The thing is, I wanted to give him that life he gave up to follow me. We both wanted a family. A man takes care of his family. And so I feel like a failure because I couldn’t save him. Dammit, I took from him. I have you, him, our other children, all we have and hope for. I still consider myself a selfish man with all this, Beauty that surrounds me. Why’d he have to go? He might have known you were the one before I did. Well, he wasn’t picky…

I wish I knew why he loved me. You could tell me a thousand reasons, the story of a thousand choices. Until the end, I was always his. He saw something inside me that I have yet to find. Only you found it, babygirl. The way our children look at me, they discovered it too. Braxton saw it first. Enough, so he trusted me with his favorite toy. My son allowed you to stay in my world and to let others find their way in. He saved me when I didn’t want to be saved, and now without him? His beautiful life, the beast that tried to protect me, and now I’m just well here. I love you, him, us, everything, Beauty and the Braxton.

I Will Have No Fear