For Jerry
© by Jale Boyce

The room aglow
Illuminative soul

With merry heart
A vital part

The one-dimpled grin
A laugh begins

With warm embrace
And loving face

Far from the norm
was his view on life

Instead of the drum
he marched to the fife

Each detail, each memory
while he was alive

From the white cadillac
that he used to drive

To Ramona and Edgar
now they were a pair

And when the breeze came
his bird tuft of hair

All those hideous shoes
while shopping one day

The cute little things
that he used to say

But, the Wizard of Oz
was his favorite love

The movie, the figures,
there was none above

The planet grows dimmer
A light has burned out

Just another statistic
but, I have not a doubt

I will always hold fast
to each wink, laugh, and call

Oh, Scarecrow, I'll miss you,
You, most of all

I will never forget you
or that spark in your eye

Oh, why, my dear friend,
did you have to die ?

(My dear friend Jerry died of AIDS in December of 1993.
How many more have died since.... how many more will ?)

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