I WILL MISS YOU MOST AT APPLE BLOSSOM TIME

I WILL MISS YOU MOST AT APPLE BLOSSOM TIME

Good friend with the quick wit and a laugh that could fill a room,
Who loved food that was bad for you,
And who left us far too soon.

I remember watching the shiny fire trucks and the rescue trucks
Parading down the street in all their pomp and glory.

With you and my brother indulging my love of the sirens
And the flashing lights,
And the firemen in their uniforms that filled the summer nights.

I will miss you most at apple blossom time
When we loaded up on greasy food and all felt in a festive mood.

The Italian sausage and the cotton candy that melted on the tongue,
The funnel cake that you always bought and that we carried home.

And how the world seemed gentler, as if your kindness
Filled its heart, and filled in all the moody spaces,
An infusion sweet of powdered sugar that carried it to softer places.

I will miss you most this time of year and how you used to mingle
A teeming crowd never bothered you, an extrovert at play
As you bundled up your funnel cake and went your merry way.

I will miss you most this time of year, and when the apple blossoms fall
Your spirit it will rise again and haunt the midway on the Old Town Mall.
Your laugh will echo in the marching bands and the memories will linger
Of your fondness for Patsy Cline, our gifted hometown singer.

And over time this grief I feel will lessen, to a ripple from a wave
As the apple blossoms fall so sweet upon your sacred grave.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2008
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED