THE FOREVER LETTER TO MOEN MUSING

 

THE FOREVER LETTER TO MOEN MUSING

                --10 April 1932–24 October 2023

             --for Ginny

Dear Ron,

you started poems to me like that,

Dear Jim,

heading straight from there to Jesus.

Jesus and a car full of men

on the way to your memorial.

There’s an image

might make you smile.

Men come from Yakima,

Ginny, imagine that.

There’s a march

nobody saw coming.

I got me some memories.

You and Ginny popping

corn on the stove.

Moen musing, that’s

my favorite. Those

pages come in the mail.

You wrote poems

but never used the word

yourself, not close

enough, no matter

how Christ-centered

it was, to Christ.

Any poem written

by man had too much

man in it,

and not enough Christ.

That’s me, Ron,

in a nutshell,

too much man,

not enough Christ,

that’s what

I always loved

best, what I

loved the most,

and took the most

from, from you.

Talking with your family

at the memorial,

Ron wrote poems?

I didn’t know that.

I loved the surprise

on their faces.

I brought out

all the books you sent,

collected all your

musings I could find,

set them by my chair

on the floor,

determined

to get it all

said,

once and for all.

But I kinda

knew

Moen’s musings,

the one thing

I wanted to say

would be it,

one thing

you’d admit to

being you,

man of Christ.

Your eternal friend, Jim

17 November 2023