Mike

Was I toasting to you?
Compelled to smoke an Excalibur
and finish off a bottle of Rabbit Hole,
what deep pain was I trying to overcome
on behalf of a friend so many miles away?

Was that why I couldn’t sleep last night?
A sledgehammer held in the darkness.
Whose soul could relax and lay to rest?
Only the body ignorant of what has occurred.

How is it that you inspired so many,
only to martyr yourself to where we will not follow?
Your mentorship was not done!
We were not done!
But now I wonder if the calm behind your eyes
was death, all along.

I await each stage of this grief now knowing
that I don’t have you to call.
There are so many ways you helped me grow,
and I thank you for them all.