Gene, Gene, the Singing Machine

(in memoriam, Eugene Lawler, d. January 29, 2012, aged 83 years) --- Note: "The singing machine" is a not so tongue-in-cheek reference to Gene and his penchant for singing whenever and wherever he wished, as well as to his karaoke equipment and his nickname at bars that featured karaoke nights. --- You fancied yourself a singer, and indeed you were. What songs we heard from you you had made your own, and you gave them freely to all who would listen (though we were just a few who were, at times, inattentive.) Time and remembrance may color the images you left behind, and the sentimental songs you sang (and scribed on silver disks for us to hear when, and if, we will) may prod us to recall your willful, dour demeanor which could bloom into benevolence or darken further in stormy sneers at tardiness, or at perceived maltreatment of any sort. You were your own arbiter of behavior who kept before you expectations of what was appropriate, for yourself and for us, the others of your kind. We were few (still fewer now), who flocked together on occasion to celebrate, in quiet fashion, whatever anniversary we chose -- perhaps your passing date will become another to be marked. And your voice, reproduced mechanically, amplified, may remind us of our loss, and of yours.