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In Memory of John Haack

8/26/2018

Buenos Aires, April 3, 1942 – Málaga, July 18, 2018

Lower the flags
in memory of John
Now that our dear old John has gone

Come, gather up memories
yours and mine
Break out the glasses
and pour us some wine

Let’s have no tears
Well, perhaps just a few
And then let’s all do
what he’d want us to do

Challenge the bullshit
Sample the gin
Play devil’s advocate
with a shit-eating grin

Live to the limit
Laugh till you cry
Argue till daybreak
And keep asking why

If you believe in it
raise up your voice
Give all you have
in the coin of your choice

The flags may be lowered
Juanín may be gone
But his singular spirit,
undaunted, lives on

Geoffrey Edbrooke RIP

8/26/2018

Something tugged at Geoffrey’s sleeve
Time had come for him to leave
Tired of lonely
Tired of pain
Longed to join his fair Elaine
Wednesday morning brought release
Gentle Geoffrey, rest in peace

Birthday Review

8/26/2018

I’m not going to dwell on the gloomy bits
or the scary ones
or the sad
I’d rather remember my sun-drenched days
and all the fun I’ve had

I traveled the world when I was young
I’ve always been lucky like that
It opened my mind to astonishing things
that I’m still keeping under my hat

I’ve seen the sun go down in the west
and rise again in the east
I married a baker who saved my life
and every meal is a feast

Today is my birthday
(I should have explained)
so I’m delving around in the past
And I’ll say it again
(with my fingers crossed)
I’ve been lucky and long may it last

Thanksgiving 2017

8/26/2018

On this day reserved for gratitude
Under late November skies
As we honor our traditions
And feast on pumpkin pies

Let us celebrate the positive
The realm of hopes and dreams
Where even dismal darkest night
Is brighter than it seems

For though our journey may be fraught
With cruel calamity
The road is strewn with miracles
For those with eyes to see

Fare Thee Well

8/26/2018

We may not meet again like this
dear friends from long ago
So give me one last farewell kiss
before it’s time to go

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
from days of auld lang syne?
My heart says absolutely not
I’m not forgetting mine

Our paths may cross again one day
but only time will tell
So rather than good-bye let’s say:
Godspeed and fare thee well

(with thanks to Robert Burns)

When You and I Were Young

8/26/2018

Remember once upon a time
when you and I were young?
The world was simple and sublime
Our song as yet unsung

Our freedom seemed to know no bounds
Our limit was the sky
An air of magic still surrounds
our youth in Uruguay

We couldn’t wait to go outside
to woods or stream or beach
The day unfolding far and wide
was all within our reach

To think we barely noticed when
our summers slipped away
We took them all for granted then
I cherish them today

For Jack

8/26/2018

If you and I take off tonight
out of the window and out of sight
over the hill and far away
off on our own for a year and a day
what should we take to eat and drink?
and what will all the neighbors think?

Never mind, we’ll just explain
whenever we make it home again
that it was time for us to go
and shuffle off to buffalo
to visit scenes we’ve never seen
outside of a glossy magazine
to find a place of our very own
where we can play the saxophone
and have no need for keys or locks
and never wear our shoes and socks

So what do you say, are you ready to go?
Shall we hit the road and go with the flow?
Just leave a note that you’ll be back
and sign it Lots of love from Jack

2017

8/26/2018

The fireworks start at midnight
but nothing else is planned
The unfamiliar road ahead
is hard to understand

We may be bound for heaven
We may be going to hell
Or maybe somewhere in between
but only time will tell

The pundits are divided
The fortune tellers too
Though some insist that all is well
Some wonder if it’s true

We’re entering the great unknown
A place we’ve never been
Welcome to the future:
this is Twenty-Seventeen

Thanksgiving 2016

8/26/2018

Where have we been since last we met?
Hopefully nowhere we’d rather forget!
Were we circulating?
Hibernating?
Gravitating?
Or merely contemplating the flow of days
we’ve spent in all our different ways
since last we met?

What have we learned in all these weeks?
That wisdom is as wisdom speaks
That fortune’s fickle, so is fame
they flicker like a candle flame
That things are seldom as they seem
and some are nothing but a dream
That far-off places entertain
but not like coming home again
is what we’ve learned in all these weeks

We are enslaved by obligation
beset by trial and tribulation
So where to find the motivation
to interrupt our occupation
and join this annual celebration?

Our ritual of giving thanks
is worth all the gold in all the banks
There’s no more precious rendezvous
Than being here today with you

Sunflowers in my Room

3/6/2016

Under doctor’s orders
I took myself to bed
In and out of daydreams
hanging by a thread
Peering through my eyelids
everything is red
Doomed to isolation
living in my head

Then you brought me sunflowers
and sunshine filled the room
Pretty yellow faces
banishing the gloom
Something deep inside me
struggling to bloom
Basking in the golden light
of sunflowers in my room

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