Rick's Poetry: My Locker

My Locker
(c) Ricky D. McKean 2001

My locker by itself
is just an empty space
but if I use it wisely
it keeps what I have in it's proper

place Things that are so little
and others not too small
I put inside my locker
so I don't loose them all

I keep my jeans and sweatshirt
my sister gave to me
folded neatly for that visit
I'm hoping soon will be

Pictures on the inside
and outside of the door
don't know where I will put them
if I receive some more

I even hung a cheap watch
right over on the corner
so I know it's time to eat
or how long I can snore

The top is always messy
with my pencils and my cups
sheets of paper everywhere
all scribbled and marked up

My locker's real important
as you can surely tell
It keeps all the stuff inside
that would clutter up my cell

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

My Locker - 2001

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