You DIED, Don, on your day of death,
And you had assembled a rascally bunch
To mark your passing.
And the music was finally
Coming together
You said.
And your friend back East,
Where you did not want to go,
Had died
You said.
And you really didn't make any money
On this job
You said,
When you fixed my neighbor's lamp, helpfully.
But Stephanie's dryer still works fine
And no animals were harmed
In the making of this movie
But you.
You died, Don, on your day of death.
And Davey J. said you had added
20 years, when you were still non-chalantly with us.
And Jesse added a wiggle to her gait
As if to shake her worry loose.
And Tania, according to my schizophrenic visions
And my hypnogogic states,
Sharp-shootress-ed your soul,
Beyond any shadow of a doubt,
Right up to the Heav'ns,
With her love.
And Dawn hung out all day
and steered us all to safety.
And Michael K. ran the voodoo down
On a rainbow riding rock-a-lanche,
Until his eyes were puffy.
And Lizzy, with heart breaking, got her year, and had her natal birthday.
And Cheryl, I only saw later
On the up and up, at the first Log Cabin without you.
And we wouldn't have minded
If it was a false alarm
And you were really gunning down the Federalee's
In an old Western.
I would have been okay with that.
Something romantic,
Something more dashing,
But you died, Don, on your day of Death
And if anything ever felt small
Or insignificant
It wasn't this.
And the tragic hilarious fool
Who'd been around the block a heap
Yet who was kind without knowing it loudly
Went to meet his Creator
And I know how to remain shy and clumsy
When I die, now,
Thinking that no one will bother
With it.
You died, Don, on the day of your death,
And without being able to say
All the ways, exactly how,
It will just NOT be the same.
(SCA/December 8, 2009)
