Dear Dale, So Loved
Dear Dale, so loved were you
that even now, thirty-nine years later,
you live inside the dreams
of your siblings. I suppose this to be true
since I, at least, have had you in my dreams.
Dear Dale, you came to live with me and my sisters
when I was halfway through my childhood.
You with your freckles and reddish hair
and your spirit of enthusiasm,
inspiring others with your love of the Lord.
Dear Dale, although a stepbrother to me,
you were my one true brother in this life
who stayed up late at the kitchen table
sharing fun stories with me and the others
who liked to spend the night simply conversing.
Dear Dale, you’d be surprised at things today.
So few people just sit and enjoy each other’s company.
You though were a firecracker and a social butterfly!
Loving to participate, you encouraged everyone
to partake of the good clean fun you were a part of.
Dear Dale, you went abroad to bring the Gospel
to anyone you found who would hear God’s word.
Then home you came and studied many years at college,
nearly graduating from your law school
until death came to you from out of nowhere.
Dear Dale, we lost you when a drunken fool
ran over you as you sat so innocently
late one night on the curb of a solitary street.
Your death was instantaneous. Then and there,
I’m sure your soul flew straightaway to heaven.
Dear Dale, although of course you had your flaws,
to me you were a perfect example of
the way a man should have integrity.
Abruptly you were lost to death, but we will reunite.
“Only the good die young” echoes in my mind when I think of you.
Jan. 22, 2023
for The Loved and Lost Poetry Contest of Regina McIntosh
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