Fond Memory of the Years

Mike Clevenger

What will they say when we are gone

to tell of the days we have known

May they never measure our worth

by our  life’s failure, to have grown

 

Pray they say that kindness was found

in a world surrounded by pain

That we had given more than took

trying our best, to not be vain

 

I wish my friends to know of me

that I see them as a treasure

The pains of our lives that we share

are the jewels, by which I measure

 

When winters cold seems to descend

from the North Winds that blow a gale

Take heart that you are not alone

then may love, lift and fill your sail

 

When the sands of life all run out

should you pass on before I go

This world will know you had a friend

as over you, my tears will flow

 

Tate

Author's Note

To all who have known the trials of a life beset with tribulation. I would just like to say the things that make life worth living are not to be found in pursuit of wealth. I never remembered anyone fondly for the station they held in life. True wealth for me is held within the hearts of those I have loved and who dared to love me. When I first wrote this piece it lacked an owner, as I waited for the one who might deserve it. Such was the case when my friend passed into memory. Mike died on my wedding anniversary February 13th 2013.
When my house caught fire Mike helped me rebuild it. He was my neighbor. Last week I buried my truck in a ditch. He came over with his tractor and pulled me home. Many times we set outside and cooked on the grill laughed and shared the stories of our painted lives. He was siding his home this summer. However he only finished half of it. So little Tate and I will help Matt his son and Matt Jr finish what my friend could not. I would just say that he left many loved ones behind. Three grandchildren in particular that adored him and a good friend, who counts him above all the rest. I dont know what Mike believed in the way of religeon. I couldn't think of any more fitting music for this piece than Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. That because Mike loved country music and was to me at least the iconic representation of Rooster Cogburn. His was the rough exterior of a man with a heart of gold. He was simply one of the finest men I ever knew, cut from the cloth of
True Grit!

Tate

Reviews

[Rikkevi Rue]

Hey Buddy, why is it that i always feel like somebody reached out and wrapped something around me when I read your poems? As if words transcend the physical universe and permeate right through my computer screen and touch me. I half way don't want to come to your page because i know i will read some new verse of yours that is so sentient, so darned real that it will barge right into my inner world and stir up a bunch of emotion and thoughts. Can't you just stay on your OWN side of the country Morgan!

Of course the poem is of high quality craft and of course the topic is contemporarily salient and of course you as usual have correctly judged your audience and of course you have evoked a major response and of course...

Why the hell do these simple, earnest voicings of yours always keep me coming back here...funny how those musings that come straight from the heart can penetrate right through any barrier whether distance, ethnic differences, educational discrepancies, geographical perspective, etc etc...

The warrior raises his sword and the poet slays him with his pen ;-)

[Tate Morgan]

To this day and through some 20,000 reviews or so I still feel this to be the most endearing I have ever received. I tip my hat to you sir in deference to your kindness.

[John Patrick Robbins AK..]

Honestly just a fantastic message and write .
Sorry i havent read you sooner for im the one that was missing out great work on this.
Stay crazy Gonzo

[Cherrie Palmer]

...When winters cold seems to descend from the North Winds that blow a gale

Take heart that you are not alonem then may love, lift and fill your sail...


perfection true simple and kind

[K. D. Kromminga]

My Norsk ancestors have a saying which boiled down to its essence is "While everything else in life fades away, honor lives forever." In Christianity honor is embodied in the golden rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The greatest men we remember in history are those who have lived by that credo, if you pause to truly think about. Even great artists, poets, and writers, we remember more for their work then their personal lives, unless they have make an indelible impression on the world outside their work by living with honor. Everybody else we soon either forget, or have a eternal debate on who the man behind the work "really was."

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you I am sure mike would blush at the outpouring of attention on his behalf and then changer the subject to some obscure meandering on the workings of a old engine or some such thing.Mike always thought himself a common man.I always saw him as exceptional .That because to me he was the distilled essence of goodness embodied by the heart of humanity. At times i could not believe the lengths he went to help friends relatives strangers. Last summer he had a step child and his wife an expectant baby 6 grandchildren and a daughter all living with him and his wife. To him family was treasure and he collected and cared for them accordingly.I was proud to be his friend!

[written in blood]

this was very moving and very telling of what kind of a friend you were to him, the words you write just graced my page softly like petals off a rose one by one.. Gorgeous write and heartfelt, So sorry for your loss.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you he was to me my best friend and he is missed

[Epipsychologist]

Wow Tate, Mike sounds like he was a great friend, and you're obviously a great friend too, to have memorialized him. I hope my friends will feel the same way about me someday. My condolences.

[Holly Mason]

so sorry again for the loss...may his family heal and carry on grandpa's memories
get his house finished he will smile down, I promise
thank you for this

[Relic]

This is simply the finest poem a friend can offer another. I'm sure Mike would love it and be proud to have such a thoughtful friend as you to write it. It's excellent. I'm sorry for your loss and I find your Author's note to be of high value. Great writing Tate.

[Pax]

life's treasured gift: "friendship". YOur a good friend as he is to you and that's what real friends do. Your dedication and Your words are amazingly matched to with each others sentiments. Your heart shines with your friendship bond mr. Tate, awesome write!

[VALORMORE DE PLUME]

Thank you Tate for your insightful take on life. Much wisdom woven throughout. I am sorry for your loss, yet glad to see how your mind works to lift the spirit of the reader as you deal with your own grief.