Notable Deaths – 2019

Peter Fonda 1940-2019

Peter Fonda’s first movie was breezy with sweet Sandra Dee
Then for a ride to The Big Easy you can’t beat LSD
He finally stepped from the shadows of that family tree
“We can only learn when we are free.”

Fonda was once shot in the stomach, “a mishap” he said
By his own hand he’d done it and look where it led:
His friend Lennon took note and followed the thread:
“She said ‘I know what it’s like to be dead’”

Jessye Norman 1945-2019

She sang Janacek, Wagner, Bartok and Strauss
Jessye Norman seemed to sing without effort
Her opulent tone would bring down the house
The most sumptuous voice since…well forever

Oh so at ease in so many genres
She worshipped in many religions
When asked of this her response was
“Pigeon holes are for pigeons”

James R. Leavelle 1920-2019

Leavelle was cuffed to the killer of JFK
Ruby rushed forward with his 38
Live television a grey matinee
Conspiracy theories lying in wait

Eddie Money – 1949-2019

Eddie used one of his Two Tickets to Paradise
Something he always wanted for sure
On Stubhub you can name your price
And join him there…I think I’ll demur

Robert Hunter – 1941-2019

He’s dead but let us be grateful
for Robert Hunter’s lyrical spin
A life spent abetting the faithful
What a long strange trip it’s been

Dr. John 1941-2019

Malcolm Rebennack, Ivory Soap infant
But gris-gris spirits is what got him clean
Kicked smack else he would have been fucked
And Dr. John would have long left the scene

Francis Crowe 1919-2019

At one hundred she still protested
Persistent, passionate, tough
Asked how many times she was arrested
Francis Crowe said, “Not enough!”

Unita Blackwell 1933-2019

She was sharecropper-shack raised
Risked her life to rise from there
Unita Blackwell remained unfazed
First black Mississippi mayor

Hal Prince 1928-2019

Hal Prince was not a musician
But without him there is no “Todd”
He had a mission and naked ambition
And it helped to partner with God

Daryl Dragon 1942-2019

The Captain went overboard
Did Tenille give him a love tap/shove?
Love kept them together but oh Lord
Could anyone forgive “Muskrat Love”?

Mary Oliver 1935-2019

Likened to Dickinson, Whitman and Frost
“I made a world of words as my salvation”
Mary Oliver lifts us when we are lost
“I was a bride married to amazement”

W.S. Merwin 1927-2019

A poet, a pure one, W.S. Merwin
Words of evanescent enchantment
If ever there were one, a modern day Merlin
And a master of sensual enjamb
ment

I.M. Pei 1917-2019

Respect I suppose is hard to get
If your career is too brief to pick up steam
I.M Pei might have made it as an architect
If it hadn’t been for that pyramid scheme

GOP Commitment to Rule of Law – 1854-2019

They were elected to the U.S. Congress
But cower at confronting wrongness
They stand up to Trump:
“How high do we jump?”
And prolong this night that is dawnless

Mcconnell could have been a great leader
But opted instead for boss bottom feeder
If there is justice at all
He’ll be stopped at the wall
That guards the Gates of St. Peter

Throughout November I am writing a poem every day as part of an effort to raise funds for The Center For New Americans. If you like the poems (or even if you don’t) and would like to support this fantastic organization, please follow this link. Thanks.