One reason we invented the poemis to try to say what can't be said
For many years I worked for a man who drove me stark raving mad.He was the worst meticulous fussy fidgety perfectionist control freakIn the history of human beings. He would rather that things were wayLate than that they were done with any hint of a mistake. We did notSee eye to eye about this, or much else. Yet no one cared more aboutThe work we did, and what it meant. He was subject to fits of temper,And you never met a gentler man. He held grudges, and was the soulOf mercy beyond sense and reason. He was a pacifist who had earnedA Bronze Star in a war. He was the worst manager I ever saw and theBest employee. He had been a quiet drunk and when he realised he'dDamage his new children he stopped and never took another sip. LotsOf people knew him and no one knew him well. He wouldn't allow it.Yet he wept easily when he was moved, which he was every amazedDay, usually by something having to do with a child. He was so closeWith his emotions that you wanted to scream but no one was courtlier.He took his faith so seriously that no one was ever more furious aboutIts crimes and lies and greed for money and power. He retired at dawnThis morning. He cleaned out his office and went home and sent emailTo a few people. Even his leaving was meticulously controlled so thatNo one could say farewell or tell him they admired him; I have to grinAt the sheer consistency of that. But one reason we invented the poemIs to try to say what cannot be said, and what I want to say is that I amSo thankful for your honesty, your integrity, your patient commitmentTo work that in the end was about the holiness of tall children. I won'tForget that, as long as I live. It would have been cool to tell you that inPerson but you won't allow that, you brilliant oddity, so here's a poem.
A whopping poem
Need not be gargantuan, though, know what I mean?It could be epic while remaining lean; terse and hugeAt once, if we find the right subject. A child's defiantGrace under duress, her adamant laughter, his tirelessCourage without the slightest reason to be brave. SheHas a bone marrow transplant today. He is once againAll