[lit-ideas] Re: Sunday Poem

For Mike Goldhammer's Memorial Service

though mike had his funny side
he was definitely not a moon and june and swoon kind of guy
not a wordsworthian fellow
daffodils in bloom
and all that

he had a smile
he tended the yard
he worked hard
he made money
he looked after his family
he was above all grounded

it came as news to me that mike was actually a morris
a name which causes one to think of cats
i can't quite see mike as a cat
an exile from a pride of lions perhaps
an old male, compact and tough
puttering on walker road

when asked how he was
to me he would always say
in his short gruff way
i'm on the right side of the daisies
and then he'd smile

but ask him how to pronounce something in hebrew
and he would give you
he na ne
here I am

the fact is
he no longer is
and that's a shame
but my best guess is
knowing him
that from time to time
on the other side
if it's at all possible
he'll be giving the daisies an occasional push

David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon

------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts: