Click her for Link to Sonny Ropers Poem >> POEM
A brief history, just after I joined Poetry soup, I met a very kind person by the name of Lucilla Carrillo, and she was sweet and encouraging to me, and we just talked about this and that, and thus a friendship was born. However she wasn't doing well, and a little over a year since I met her she passed away. A few days before she told me she wasn't going to be of this earth much longer, and that a family member has also joined soup, so she asked me to look out for her! I was so saddened she wasn't well, and so of course I said I would be as encouraging as possible!
That person was Eve Roper. She is a painter, and a very good one, but she was giving a try at poetry, and like any artist, she took to it like a duck to water, and she has been here ever since. A more kind hearted person you could not find, and she is one of the persons who gifts people memberships without asking for or expecting any gratitude.
Now through her I got to know her husband, also a very kind heart, and well, me with my humor, we just got along and shared a few laughs on some topics of common interest.
He just passed away this August 29th and so I offer my sympathies to Eve, and I will miss a very kind person, I had had every hope of meeting one day. He was a War Vet, a hero in my eyes and although he denied it, I have to say a very fine poet. There will be more on that later!
He wrote a poem recently, and I have posted the link on my site, that you can find here. Also I Have written a dedication to him which you can read below, is not perfect, but its heartfelt, and I hope I bring some comfort to Eve!
I would also like to add, McCain who also just passed away, was in the public eye, and deserved all the honors he received, and if he was alive today, he would stand tall and speak for all the people like Sonny Roper who gave to their Country and never asked for any spotlight. God bless you both.
Twenty One
ah to be twenty one again
chasing skirts
adventures in foreign lands
friendships forged
love and trust entwined
as grapes to the vine
ageless is the word honor
Timeless is the laughter
humanity survives black shrouds
humble is the man
who speaks of six angels
Tears for a brave hero parted
I salute you
I honor you
and your service
I thank you
I hope for more of you
I dream of angels
Men who now speak
loud voices and empty souls
Boasting, yet never a crumb
to be given
Leaders who don't lead
From the heavens though you shall speak
As church bells ring
those long before
they too shall sing
Welcoming you to a better place
Where gods too see your grace
As the seventh angel takes his place
ah to be twenty one again
as you lie in wait
tears too many to be counted
Family mourning
As the guns fire high in the sky
Twenty one, dear friend, good bye
Notes: Each verse is 6 lines to represent his last poem about 6 angels, and I used twenty one to signify both youth and the 21 gun salute he will receive at his funeral.