A quiet Tuesday

Came to a thundering stop!

A jolt, A slam!

A Crash!

And you were taken away,

In an instant,

In a heartbeat,

That cuts like a knife,

In that waking moment,

That I wished

To be a nightmare

But I was still awake.

Now you are gone

To the ends

Of the Universe

You always wanted to know,

Understand and even create,

And now you hold it,

In the palms of your hands.

And I carry you

In the palms of my soul.

I look back at our yesterdays,

And the magic you gave

Of wonderful memories

That I will never

Forget, regret, or reject.

That I will own

Forever…

In the vessel of my heart.

I will remember,

The laughter,

The silly remarks,

The endless lunchroom

Discussions about the world,

We would conquer

Calmly, quietly,

With a loud striking force.

Yes, these are mine,

Because you did not

Surrender yourself

To only a dream,

But you believed…

In your surroundings,

Your friends,

Your family.

You belonged

To something greater

Then the rules

Of the world,

With its put downs,

Insults, doubting,

Laments.

You believed

In something deeper,

Universally magical

Beautiful, mysterious

And powerful

In existence.

You belonged

Not to the world,

You believed,

In the power,

Of yourself.

So, goodbye for now

My friend.

I’ll try to find my way,

Among the memories,

And the lessons you

Gave unto me.

Goodbye for now.

As you walk with

My steps,

Everyday that I wake.

I will remember

You.

And the lessons you gave,

About ourselves,

And our ability to

Not only dream

But to stand-up,

Affirm,

Take strides

And believe in

The power

Of ourselves

And…

The drive of

our dreams.

Dedicated to Kimberly Ann Servidio, a young friend who was killed in a violent automobile accident by a reckless driver. She was twenty when she was killed and a junior at Hood College. As young as she was, she taught me much about life because she had found herself and loved every minute of life even it's hard, annoying and even painful times. I miss her so and leave this poem in her memory to remind me that we are never alone in our journeys and that hope is the wonderful thing at the end of anything.

K.A.S. 1977-Feb. 4, 1998

Alas as if losing one friend wasn't bad enough. Click here to read Julie's poem.