You Leave Us a Song

Painting and Poem by Dr. Abe V. Rotor

You leave us a song we’ll always remember:
A song of the fields, meadows and sky,
A song of the soil and the growing bud,
A song of seasons, a song of the earth.

And as we listen, we are awed.
We laugh the laughter of the brook
Where we once fished and played,
And found our childhood in dreams.

In the clouds we would see monsters,
Meek and silent as they passed by,
Leaving us to wonder if ever we could
Someday face and conquer them.

Years after the monsters came.
They were real now as life itself.
Monster that bring grief and suffering;
We stood together, faced and conquered them.

Now you leave us a song,
Now that you’ve laid down your sword.
We hear the wind, the rustling leaves,
Farmers’ laughing and Ceres singing.

Original title: Farewell Eugene, Farewell
August 18, 2003. Dedicated to my late brother.