The grief engulfed me when I tried to speak.
Of course I mourned your unexpected death,
but as I talked my tears began to leak,
informing me along with ragged breath.
You weren’t young but weren’t ancient yet.
You’d had a heart attack, but mended well.
Our past is now on me to not forget,
our teen adventures mine alone to tell.

I heard the news with shock, and all last night
I thought of you – we both expected more
discussions we would share, with you uptight
and me still weird, related to the core.
I tried to call your widow, wife-that-was,
and understood how much I’ll miss you, Cuz.