Thinking of Marshall...

How is it, then, that love slips so softly down the path,
and yet, the leaving is so loud that the clangs and clatters
shatter the stillness of our heart's repose?

Thoughts of Marshall bounce around my heart often. I wonder,
would he be surprised?
Very often, the memories lead me
to one of my favorite poems by James Kavanaugh. Here is just
the first verse or so...

Will you be my friend?
There are so many reasons why you never should:
I'm sometimes sullen, often shy, acutely sensitive,
My fear erupts as anger, I find it hard to give,
I talk about myself when I'm afraid
And often spend a day without anything to say.
But I will make you laugh
And love you quite a bit
And hold you almost every day
Because I'm more caring than the strangers ever know,
And, if at times, I show my tender side
(The soft and warmer part I hide)
I wonder,
Will you be my friend?

A friend
Who far beyond the feebleness of a vow or tie
Will touch the secret place where I am really I,
To know the pain of lips that please and eyes that weep,
Who will not run away when you find me in the street
Alone and lying mangled by my quota of defeats
But will stop and stay--to tell me of another day
When I was beautiful.

In memory: Marshall Myers February 26, 1983 - April 24, 2008