Dreams of a lifetime - Poem by Ivan Donn Carswell

Ronald Hi Khong Wong is gone,
sadly he deceased
the commencement of this week.
It wasn’t unexpected.
He never contradicted
the prediction of his death
although, perhaps, he hoped for time
to sort some odds and ends,
and we for time to make allowances
for our friend’s impending end.
Alas it weren’t to be.
We farewell him Friday,
commit his ashes to the air
and sea, our memories
to shared reminiscences,
to remember him
in word and deed.
We will miss the tall, wry,
oh so clever man
whose worldly view was larger than
a turning universe.
He could move us from
dour introspection with a scurrilous laugh,
a well placed jibe, his comic reflections.
We will miss the witty man who held us in awe
of his capacity to make light of his burden,
and though we might have wished
to write a better ending
it was a choice he faced with noble strength,
deciding to leave the way he lived,
never quite unpacked,
never quite undecided about anything that mattered,
but decidedly never at a loss for informed choices.
Goodbye Ron, we join our voices
to sing you into the deepest sleep
of a thousand years
and the dreams of a lifetime.
© I.D. Carswell