Melancholy Joy

Melancholy, melancholy...another friend has

gone to join his warrior brethren on high…

Beat the drum slowly - murmur the

expected words of solace…

He is free now of earthly limitations, soaring

unencumbered above the mundane cares of

the living - free of spirit and light of heart -

And yet, we mourn…

Though the end may have long been expected

and anticipated, still it wrenches at the inner

recesses of the heart, the warm places where

real love dwells.

We mourn as much for ourselves as for this

departed friend and relative. How to fill the

suddenly aching void? Memories are

poor substitutes for the living being.

Earl, what now can enliven where your vibrancy

once uniquely sang and shone and pulsed?

We wish you well and rejoice in your renewed

vitality and freedom:

But still...how we wish you had not

gone just yet.

© 8/21/2004 Thurman P. Woodfork

...for Earl D. Jones

U.S. Army Special Forces ~ Viet Nam Veteran

Passed through The Wall at 0738 EDT, 21 August 2004.