Sunday, July 12, 2015

Poem for Frank

I've written this poem for the occasion of a memorial service we're hosting for my beloved cousin Frank this coming Saturday.  Last week Marissa and I went to Marder's nursery where we picked out a beautiful birch tree that we'll be planting in our front yard next weekend when we're joined by Rachel & Eli and other friends and family. 



Poem for Frank


For weeks
I’ve been dulled
By your loss
Giving rise to a sense 
Of dread that can't 
Quite be named

When the hawk
Glided off past
The Sarasota Pine
Straight towards
The Eastern Ranges
I wondered to myself
Shall we ever
Meet again

What has been
Taken from us
Is the pith
Of a summer
That can never 
Be reclaimed

*  *  *

Fairest of the lot
Unspeakably sane
Perdurably mild
Yet solidly framed

By balance
And ballast
Both equally blessed
By nature irenic
Of calmness possessed

Forthright
In demeanor
Of the Tribe
From the plains
Forever Frank
In disposition and name
And fixed in our hearts
As you'll always remain

*  *  *

Now to the leeward
Of the towering beech
Where we’re planting
A graceful white birch
And mixing your ashes
There amidst the tendrils
And roots

It’s a sheltered spot
For a ferryboat stop
At the base of
A shadow-less tree
Let it also be a resting place for
Your carapace and
Vouchsafe for your
Soul’s complete
And speedy release



Frank's white birch




No comments:

Post a Comment