~ The Poet's Place Cafe~

Saudade for friends I have lost

as I get older
I loose more people
every year

more people I knew
have died
and moved on

and I mourn their lost
and recall our friendship
wished I had been
a better friend for them

and with the corona virus
spreading around the world
I will loose so many more
in the coming year

I lost my father due to cancer in 1985
and my sister due to a freak illness in 2007
and my mother due to alzheimer’s in 2005
and my father in law as well in 2007

Demel Tucker
high school debate teammate
dead of HIV in 1995

Julian Bartlely and his son
one of my favorite bosses
died in a terrorist bombing
in Nairobi in 1998

Jon Weber college roommate
dead due to prostate cancer
in 2000

Paul Simon friend from the visa line
dropped dead of a heart attack
in 2004

Ted Halstead
one of my best bosses
died of heart attack
in 2007

Chris Richard one of my former bosses
dropped dead of a heart attack
shortly before we were due
to have lunch in 2014


and so many others
I have lost
along the way

and soon there will be
so many more
as I get old
in the corona era