Jimmy

An acquaintance only
With but a few handfuls of shared laughs
Even less of those connecting moments that beget friends
Work; mutual employment constructed connected paths

Plants knew you as a beloved friend
Constantly rescuing shriveled green messes like a gnomely saint
Cycling thru sunshine, snow, and rain (truck parked at home)
No one quite understood your eccentric ways

The news broke today...
Only days left...
Cancer, the devil's killer had come
And would be stealing you away

So many other lives gone too soon
So many other souls snatched from this earthly realm
Friends crying, loved ones shattered
Its power cripples the strongest bodies
Its terror inconspicuously clenches in darkness
And steals healthy lives away

As if standing atop the highest peak
Laughing with pride, another mark in its ledger
One more life ending, one more smile smudged away
Cancer has won another battle, goes on to fight another day

But to cancer I say
what power have you really?

A torch he carried, offering warmth, light, a healing smile
Everyone he came in contact with experienced a better day
A pure joy
A rare warmth
A soul emitting radiant beauty in a world that can be so cold and ugly
A real smile that will be forever remember

To cancer I say, you stole nothing
You've won no war; no battle song may you sing
He gave it all away
Sharing his life with the world and living, truly living each day

For each one our time will come
All days are numbered
Every eye will blink its last
Laid to rest but I see him smiling his brightest smile yet