Remembering Tommy   

by Ernie McCray

The seventy
and eighty
and ninety-year-olds
and beyond
compose a generation
whose days,
after so many yearly journeys
revolving around the sun,
are moving on,
yet,|
though their days will be done,
along with their memories
of a war that was won,
the ending of Jim Crow shenanigans
and marches in the street
for peace and justice and equality
that faced firehoses and snarling dogs
with bared teeth
and so many things –

the spirit in which they lived,

through the lives they touched,

will live on,

so, Thomas Edward Logans,

with his good looks

and sartorial flair,

isn’t going anywhere.

His generation slowly fades away

but the love and joy

he brought to the world

is here to stay,

as what he’s given

from the depths of his soul

will exist beyond his days

on earth,

implanted in the businesses

he has influenced

with his brilliance,

through memories some have

of his leadership

when he was in school

and his incredible athletic prowess

and sportsmanship

or via something he once shared

with some student he mentored

who still breathes the sweet

air of being alive

walking around somewhere,

with something he taught them

tucked reverently

inside of them,

to be passed on to this

and coming generations,

like a runner in a relay

passing a baton on

to the next sprinter

as that is the way it is with life.

Those who knew him

know that he gave it his all

and wish that he

rest in power and peace.