| Abstract | How well I would know them now,
Those who have gone before; how gladly
Greet with belated maturity's sympathy
Those who loved, taught, comforted, admonished
And forgave; whose inscribed names inscribed
Also the moments, months and years of my past.
Here upon the brow of this enduring vale
Foregather in memory as oft they did in life:
Doctor, Parson, Farmer, Squire,]; Blacksmith, Teacher
Gardner, Grocer; Builder, Clerk, and Engineer;
Each one a mentor of my formative years,
An originator of recurring recollections
Whimsical, remorseful, joyful, grateful, indelible.
Here, a noble name, evoking thoughts of
Lazy, cricket days, of fetes and lawns and
Lakes and lofty columned living; beneath, the
Name of one who toiled with hook and
Sythe and whetstone, in patient acceptance of
A humble role, his worth not known 'till now.
Names adjacent also pose tableaux
Nostalgic: a glowing bakehouse, the binder
And rabbit excitement of the harvest field,
The culinary heartiness of a rotund Butcher,
The saturnine omnisience of an artist in wood.
To them, now benighn spirits easily persuaded
To frequent again these yet unravaged
Ways for which they died, I give my
Fervent thanks and ever fresh remembrance.
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