Later

Recently returned from my PAD Tour,

surprised at how much we laughed,

how little we cried.

There was the spirit in Florida

the one always present, unusually kind.

and the heart in New York,

ever generous, truly kind.

The enthusiastic leggy traveler in Arizona,

prolific and genuinely kind.

Oh, and the colorful soul in the NYC area,

so supportive, so very kind.

There’s the Middlecreek mystic,

beautifully expressive, exotic and kind.

I enjoyed the love coming from Kansas City,

devoted, faithful and kind.

I smiled with the stories from Ontario, 

finely tuned and kind.

Can’t forget that cheerleader from O-Hi-O,

no greater friend could exist, no one more kind.

Of course, there’s the Brain from Buffalo,

creator, leader, truly one of a kind.

I am sure there’s a city or two I have missed,

a part of our body I forgot, but

I’m still feeling the warmth and kindness.

Please forgive an old man’s faulty memory.

I don’t remember all that we talked about.

Talking wasn’t the point, not really.

There was more being and having than doing going on.

I know that no one really says goodbye,

not even when I moved from town to  town, topic to topic,

doing my best to stay kind.

I think I scrawled about when I died for awhile,

on that hillside in the jungle, far from home.

No one’s ever heard the whole of that.

I know I did not tell them enough about

how I love what they do, who they are.

I don’t know if goodbye is important to say,

not like thank you, I love you, my life is better because of you,

those you better say before you can’t.