-A Requiem for Thomas Curry still among the living-

Thomas Curry, who has made a success of himself as administrator,

Is another one who walks by the house.

He lives by the road where it slopes downward toward the river,
The first stroke of Mount Hope Bay.

Tall and lean, calm of demeanor, once a pitcher for the baseball team

Representing our parish in the old CYO league of Fall River, Massachusetts.

A fast-baller, Thomas was a long-strider then, and he’s a long-strider now,
Albeit much more cautiously.

I’ve seen him on occasion apart from walking by the house,
At the Stop & Shop checkout or the gas pumps on Wilbur Avenue,

But those are rare sightings.

One thing, though; I could pick Thomas out of a police lineup with ease,

Something I can’t say about others I’ve known from the warm
Romance of the old neighborhood.

The exceptionalism of the ancient explorers is that they weren’t hindered
By the fear of sailing off the edge of the Earth.

For a moment, I’ll be that ancient seafarer who, long before Magellan,

First noticed that ships appearing on the horizon were initially sighted

By the mainmast’s flying ensign.

Then the great mast headers came into view, then

The hand-carved bowsprit and the Earth was seen as a sphere for the first time.

A romantic fantasy to be sure. The Earth is far too large for a ship
On the horizon to be seen rising above its curvature, but I like the imagery.

So this is how I will see Thomas Curry tomorrow.

I’ll wait for his appearance near the fieldstone wall, street-side at the house.

First his head will appear on the horizon where the sloping road

Meets the water at his back, then his neck, shoulders and torso

Will be seen on the approach, his long arms swaying

For the balance he needs and then his legs with his feet on level ground,

Long-striding toward the house where I live.

But I won’t stick around at the wall to greet him.

I’ll go back inside, waiting there for the great discovery
To pass by the street-side windows for the moment when
The Earth will become a sphere again.