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| Captain Carroll LeFon, U.S. Navy (retired) "Lex" 09 Nov 1960 - 06 Mar 2012 |
When Great Trees Fall
Maya Angelou
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.
Happy Birthday Sir.
We Miss You
Maya Angelou
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.
Happy Birthday Sir.
We Miss You
Yes, we do.
ReplyDeleteVery much so.
ReplyDeleteHey Badger,
DeleteAs an aside, thanks so much for the birthday shout out. It made me smile. And I really needed to. :)
One of those rare people that truly affect your life. His positive influence continues even while he is deeply missed.
ReplyDelete"One of those rare people that truly affect your life. His positive influence continues even while he is deeply missed."
ReplyDeleteIndeed he did, indeed he is.
Paul L. Quandt
I thought of him on my own birthday Monday...man, I miss those posts of his. He was an exceptional person.
ReplyDeleteI never see that picture without thinking of Frank Elkins.
ReplyDeletehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B02W0Rs5-hblcXhucU1FblR5cTA/view?usp=sharing
Wow!
DeleteThat was LT LeFon.
ReplyDeleteWe were our greatest as LTs. At that age, captain was not on our horizon.
Indeed he was at that point, first fleet assignment as I recall.
DeleteAmen to that, Curtis..
Delete