Aloha (for Rico Leffanta)

I’m not on social media

And yet I have a group

Of buddies I have never met;

I know them from the Soup.*

 

We comment on each other’s poems

And through each varied post,

We learn, in dribs and drabs, about

What matters to us most.

 

My fellow poets span the globe

And one above the rest

Took time each day to let me know

He’d read what I’d expressed.

 

His repertoire of limericks,

Which no one could resist,

Were funny, often bawdy,

But a day was never missed.

 

So when I didn’t see a post

From my Hawaiian friend,

I had a sinking feeling

It might signify the end.

 

Dear Rico, may you rest in peace.

I’ll miss our warm rapport

And your signature Aloha!

Will not greet me anymore.

 

*Poetry Soup, a site for poets