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Open Poetry #14
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Titia Geertman
Member Ascendant
since 2001-05-07
Posts 5182
Netherlands

0 posted 2001-05-24 06:17 PM


A poem for a dear friend, it's long I know but...

I met him when we moved here
my precious neighbour Fons
he used to be a farmer
who loved nature and his beer

You had to listen very good
as he did speek to you
he spoke in dialect and fast
when he was in the mood

I loved to go to visit there
just listen to his stories
about the horses on his farm
his job was to take care

It was a beautiful time he said
but didn't want to go back
with all the comfort nowadays
he sure wasn't that mad

He often called me in to see
his blooming cactus plants
and as I loved them even so
the pleasure was on me

He was alone his wife had died
but he was not the mourning type
he made you laugh I don't know
if he felt sorrow he just might

He fell in love again he did
and his girlfriend came along
once in a while by car she drove
by hand he took her in to sit

It was so lovely for us to see
him waiting in his kitchenwindow
waving a hanky for her welcome
he was as happy as he could be

And then one day he got unwell
cancer and there was no cure
in his eighties and so in love
it was sad to watch I can tell

Then he died at eighty five
we said goodbye a moment sad
but his sons they won't allow her
they didn't see her as his wife

All he cared for was thrown away
even all those cactus plants
so I took them in my house
have them to this very day

And every year of him I think
my dear old neighbour Fons
as cactus flowers light my day
it's allmost I see him wink

He was old but yet my friend
and I cared for him so much
so I respect him with this poem
hope he's happy in the place he went


Fons was the kind of man that would dig out a flowering plant in the midst of summer if I dared say I liked it and gladly would like some seeds from it. He used to say: "if it will grow it grows and if not, well come back, there's more where that came from".

[This message has been edited by Titia Geertman (edited 05-24-2001).]

© Copyright 2001 Titia Geertman - All Rights Reserved
S Arthur Grey
Senior Member
since 2001-03-19
Posts 719
woven by a poet's loom
1 posted 2001-05-24 06:33 PM


And he had a dear friend too, Titia.
Thanks for listening to an "old Man"...and thanks for the story poem.

S Arthur

. . . Hills jump with brooks.
trees tumble out of twigs and sticks;
e e cummings

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
2 posted 2001-05-24 06:35 PM


Titia this is a very nice story of your friendship with Fons...James
Secret Whisper
Member
since 2001-01-25
Posts 298
Through the Looking Glass
3 posted 2001-05-24 06:51 PM


You are obviously a very wonderful friend. Beautiful.

"What I was living, the same am I now, dead." --Capaneus, THE INFERNO

Titia Geertman
Member Ascendant
since 2001-05-07
Posts 5182
Netherlands
4 posted 2001-05-24 08:46 PM


yes, he was a special person, one with great humor. Thank you for reading.

Titia

Lost Dreamer
Member Elite
since 1999-06-20
Posts 2464
Somewhere near the Rainbow
5 posted 2001-05-25 12:09 PM


How precious a friendship you had with Fons, and what a tribute to a man that had a wonderful soul. You did a fabulous job with this poem  
Lady In White
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Elite
since 2001-02-12
Posts 2799
USA
6 posted 2001-05-25 12:19 PM


You had a wonderful friend with a large heart, and now you've shared his memory with us....

thank you for that....

Irish Rose
Member Patricius
since 2000-04-06
Posts 10263

7 posted 2001-05-25 03:28 PM


Thank you for sharing this tenderness with us.

Kathleen Blake

"When red-haired girls scamper like roses over the rain-green grass,
and the sun drips honey."
Laurie Lee


Titia Geertman
Member Ascendant
since 2001-05-07
Posts 5182
Netherlands
8 posted 2001-05-25 05:13 PM


Thank you all for reading and responsing.

Titia

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