SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY 2013
"The time is not remote, when I
must by the course of Nature die."
That little rhyme was left, a gift,
By the Irish poet, Jonathan Swift,
who, in fact, did not survive
to my ripe number, 85.
How many more for me? Say when?
Maybe 5, but under 10.
They rush past. I blink an eye,
then when I must, of course I'll die.
What short speech can I leave here
to cheer you up, who drop a tear?
That many, long before us, knew
where to stand and what to do.
That others soon will come in sight,
ready to stand and join the fight.
You cured sadness, gave me years
of joy! I love you all, my dears.
GOODBYE, SWEET DEENA (written in 2018 after the death of Reuben's sister)
Putting grief into simple verse,
I blunt the sharpness that makes it worse.
Our parallel lifetimes finally meet
at this one endpoint--aching feet
and memories, both sweet and hard
of childish games in our Bronx back yard.
Through years with parents so hard to know
we struggled for room to live and grow,
escaped with partners, had kids, got divorced
while always supporting each other's course,
loving and working, but finally losing
to weak old age that takes away choosing.
Goodbye again! You're gone, I'm here,
but not for many another year.
Soon enough, we'll be together
out beyond all this painful weather,
at rest beyond all pain and loss,
leaving behind what living cost,
forgetting at last all effort and strain,
still brother and sister in a new domain.
More poems by Reuben, published in The Mathematical Intelligencer in 2013:
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00283-012-9347-3.pdf