Rick's Poetry: Free Man (c) 2002

Free Man
(c) 2002

If I were a free man
I'd wish that you were here
You and I could share the world
together far from fear

We could be so happy
not a care would ever be
we could run far from this place
together you and me

And if we ever got away
just how far ya think we'd go
how 'bout by the ocean
or south to lay real low

They say the sky is clear down there
the clouds there never rain
Do yas think it would be far enough
to stop this outlaw pain

I've lived behing the bars so long
I guess it's just as well
those like me just can't be free
we stand in line for hell

And when that final day comes
I will ask God for my place
but do you think he'll listen
to a man who fell from grace

by Ricky D. McKean

Rick McKean (1962-2011)

Rick McKean graduated a track star from Capital High School in Boise, Idaho. After serving in the U.S. Navy with the construction batallion and operating heavy machinery, and time in abroad in Guam, Rick was honorably discharged and took residence in Oxnard, California, near the naval base.

After working several years in various trades, including light aircraft maintenance, locksmith and auto repair, Rick worked for a paper pulp recycling plant in Oxnard until the late 90s. Expressing his love for the ocean, and despite physical limitations, he took up scuba diving and enjoyed good times with friends exploring the Channel Islands off the Ventura coastline. Rick suffered from depression and alcoholism.

The poetry on this site was written in 2001-2002 while an inmate at California Correctional Facility, Salinas, California. After parole, Rick again took residence in Oxnard, purchased a boat, and lived on the water in Channel Islands Harbor. Continuing his appreciation of nature and the environment, Rick worked in harbor maintenance, patrolling the harbor and collecting/dislodging debris that had washed in from sea.

Rick continued to live on his boat and attend AA meetings and treatment programs, and eventually was issued a driver's license and bought a car. In 2010, he drove his car to his home state of Idaho and visited his family whom he had not seen in many years. Despite numerous physicial limitations, Rick continued to live his life to the fullest extent, including handling nearly all of the maintnenance of his boat/home.

In late 2010, Rick bought a new computer, with the intention to publish these poems online. In January of 2011, Rick suffered an untimely death where he sustained a head injury repairing his boat, lost balance, and fell into the water, and succombed to the cold temperatures.

This blog contains Rick's Poetry.

(c) Ricky Dale McKean 2001, 2001

Rick's Poetry

Free Man (c) 2002

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