Sonnet 20 - Let Us Now Give All Those Good Teachers Praise

For Mary C. Gormley

Let us now give all those good teachers praise

who challenged us as children to work harder,

and be productive citizens today

inspired by their passion and their ardor.

Let’s also praise the counselors and leaders,

who worked through summer, winter, spring and fall;

those dedicated, principled believers

in education being free for all.

And praise the voters and the volunteers

on whose support our schools have been dependent;

the same support that’s proven through the years

that this town trusts its school superintendent.

Now since our public schools are so well run,

this public must say “Thank you” and “Well done!”

Goodbye

In Memory of Bob Maholchic

Along the highway blossoms flower
while the sun, like a beneficent power,
shines on gardens, yards and fields,
promising someday fruitful yields.

There’re flowers printed on your dress
and on my tie, though I confess,
this sunny morning my mood clashes
with our surroundings. We bear the ashes
of an uncle we loved and respected
who sired, nurtured, and protected
a family when in his prime,
and in the winding course of time,
when first our aunt passed, then our father,
he cared the same way for our mother.

You could put upon his epitaph,
“He was slow to anger and quick to laugh”.
He was even-tempered but hated to lose,
he loved reading the paper and knowing the news.
A stalwart citizen of our nation,
one of its greatest generation,
he gave certainty in a world of doubt,
and he always paid when we ate out.

Now at this graveyard, we the living
recall his garden and him giving
food away that he had grown.
No one would have ever known
on his last day that he was ailing.
At ninety-four, his heart was failing.

So, by these graves this sun-splashed day
let’s bend down to the earth to say
goodbye to one with one last kiss,
whose sunny nature we will miss.