GUEST COLUMN: Ode to Uncle Jim

At all the busy people

In this little country town

Through the oak leaves on the corner

Through the tears that dimmed his eyes

He would search the passing people

For the beauty he’d recognize

In their youth they loved each other

And their hearts became entwined

Their vows were gladly spoken

Their marriage seemed sublime

No one knows what came between them

Or why she felt she had to go

Now he searches to find her walking

On the sidewalk just below

In time a local merchant wooed her

‘Twas then she found her second love

Sometimes the two of them went walking

Though never glancing up above

Then Uncles days of sobriety

Were few and far between

And his sadness sank him deeper

Into a mind no longer keen

A young boy who dearly loved him

Would often go and spend a day

With this gentle old surveyor

Just to help him in some way

He might fetch a quart of buttermilk

Or maybe a loaf of bread

Whatever his old Uncle wanted

To sooth his aching head

He had given the boy his laughter

He didn’t need it anymore

And no one ever saw him smiling

He seldom ventured beyond his door

The pretty lady dressed so well

The handsome merchant was so gay

And their happiness was Uncle’s undoing

And he prayed for his last day

He lived into his eighties

A single man alone

And his second story window

Was evermore his home

His love was eternal

And hers but for a day

She lived happily ever after

And my Uncle passed away