Jonathan Tee
June 20, 2000
of my life & of
the times of
my life,
there was no one
with your certainty
of perspective or
understanding.
so with your passing
ends my
beginning.
your love-me-blue
eyes shared my youth
ful meanderings;
your comic brain
preserved them deep in
wit.
so long growing up.
baboon dreams trapped in
gobble jungles.
we both felt like
toads––i felt
uglier.
you busted-loose
with cotton-eyed joe;
rocked-out with jumpin’
jack flash; led the
third stage of the tour
de france without ever
touching the
ground.
what could i do but
cheer by the side of the
road & snap a promotional
photo or two for
underroos?
you took the
time to lead a
life of learning; a
hungry, generous-
minded intellectual of
the highest
school.
i signed on for
wingtips, gabardine &
dough.
wincing from monkey
demons out of howling
bedlam,
you opened your
heart as widely as
you could to
let us in.
of your gentle
yearning lips; of your
frisbee yelp; of
your kind & greying
beard,
endless legends will be
told in heaven & on
earth.