My Friend Pope
for Paul Rambo (1964-2001)

i always picture Pope
floating on the sea
in a kayak carved
to fit his awkward frame
--never finding comfort on the earth
he turned to the water
ran to the rocks
escaped deep inside his eyes
played days with dogs
and tried to touch a blueness
deeper then his own
that can only be found in the
bluest of a spring day sky.

on each meeting with Pope
and his ten-foot smile
one dog or another always
dragging behind unless
bounding on by.
and so many days turned into starry-eyed nights
we stood laughing in kitching,
smoking in basements
discussing love, pain, death
and the who that we are
the where that we stand
and this crazy big life and
all of its placements.

--Jessica Bacon
September 2, 2001

Obituary