He was born in Groesbeck, Texas and his name was Joe Don Baker.
Sadly, after living for nearly nine decades, he needed an undertaker.
He attended North Texas State College on a sports scholarship.
He starred in "The Living Daylights", "Cape Fear" and "Joysticks".
When I say that he was a very talented man, it's not a joke.
He died of lung cancer which proves that people shouldn't smoke.
After living for eighty-nine years, he perished and it's a shame.
Joe Don Baker was a skilled actor who was destined for fame.
[Dedicated to Joe Don Baker (1936-2025) who died on May 7, 2025]
Categories:
joysticks, cancer, celebrity, death, eulogy,
Form: Rhyme
And suddenly understand you're underwater
Flapping, snap-coral beneath someone's paradise
Bung-lusting rope towards parallax sunslick
then smacking the sole of your swollen left foot
with an empty Coke bottle, the driver's advice
While cursing the urchins in firstling jerk Tagalog.
Later your friends bring you sell-by-date strawberries
candour and candlesticks
joysticks and carrot cake.
Jim makes you laugh
till you don't.
And so soon you consider
the maximum age for dancing
half naked in half-light.
In the gaps you must wonder
whether good folk seek heaven
because it's a lie,
or deny it
because it isn't.
Back in the suburbs the sun is on holiday
Locksmiths are busy, the elderly cold
I don't mind the rain, which feels like connection
Singing Roy Orbison, so near the fold
Categories:
joysticks, holiday, paradise, rain, sea,
Form: Free verse