Memory A Not Possibly Fitting Tribute For Kevin Todd Smith 1964 -2002 Poem by Gabrielle Ciarann Roniyah Baer

If memory serves,
it seemed an early spring had come,
snow melted and gone,
no fields of white to crunch through,
no ice gleaming on bare boughs.

Then came word of a hard, hard frost
half the world away...
we could not
we had no wish to
we would not believe
such a theft of chance,
such a cheat on life,
such an awful, awe-ful loss could be.

How could so great a heart be stilled?
How could so deep a joy be stolen?
How could so fine a grace be taken?
How could one so much alive be gone?

Shock stopped our voices,
Anger stole our truer feelings,
Grief numbed our hearts,
Loss stilled our hands.

Silence, sharp as Pain
Stillness, deep as Solstice,
Sadness, real as the longest night,
Sorrow, dark as winter's twilight
Only these were known.

But Memory must and will be served,
of a flashing, brilliant grin,
of a lively, impassioned voice,
of a tireless, boundless grace,
of a gentle, passionate man.

In his memory
For his memory
We need,
We can,
We must
and for 'Kiv', we will go on.

Ares/Iphicles athanatos esti! Zei!


(written February,2002)