Rick's Poetry: Whose Time - September 15, 2001

Whose Time
(c) September 15, 2001

Life is oh so dreary
until you find your gift
stumbling day to day
lost in fog and mist

Searching for the freedom
looking for the signs
waiting for the answer
that breaks the clock of time

Looking for the right path
takes a little while
I have yet met no one
who got there in rich style

Wisdom shows it's head
when patience comes to view
trying as you might
waiting's hard to do

Suffering breeds joy
pain will turn to song
trust your inner spirit
it won't lead you wrong

Self will is such a tease
flirting with your soul
pulling you away
from love you don't yet know

Take some useless time
pray on what you need
you will receive your gifts
at God's own time and speed

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

Whose Time - September 15, 2001

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