Goodbye Mike Kelly

Greetings Hairballers,

No warm fuzzies today.

Afghanistan has taken center stage in the news again, which is extraordinary given the state of things.

Here is something I wrote in April 2003, when a friend and former colleague was killed--that’s eleven years ago, when it was Bush’s war. 

Goodbye Mike Kelly©

         FMHorner

At the office, your desk

was littered with papers and toys,

crime scene tape draped around the edge.

When our group gathered at the “club,”

you regaled us with stories

while making calls on other’s cell phones.

A wise and talented man,

you wore the mask of a middle schooler

just to throw people off guard.

Truth and harsh opinions

were your stock in trade,

and even when I disagreed, I liked you.

What a funny man you were

always something to make us laugh

and keep us sane.

You made a choice,

you asked to go

it was your duty to record,

and now you’ve gone

and died on us

out there in a ditch in the desert--

no more laughter,

just silence

and it breaks our hearts

Hairballs are not enough.

f