Don't Rub Me Out Now

This captures a lot about him, at least what I knew of him through his tweets. "lovable son of a bitch"

yes, jane, i spent some time reading through his tweets, too. thanks for reading & commenting.

As I said, Finny, powerful and touching.

thanks susan. i wasn't even going to put this up here - not going for the stars for a change - but because i thought jim would like some attention for his writing. i feel bad, as i said elsewhere, for not paying enough attention while he was alive, and perhaps this is a way of making up for that oversight - if this makes any sense. if i had known these sites before i would have engaged him in a dialogue about it and i think he'd have enjoyed the attention as we all do.

Without knowing this person at all, I'm sure this would make him proud. It's great, Finn. Bravo.

thanks shel, much appreciated. there's much to be said about his way of going and about what's left. it touches me more than i would have expected, though i've had more than my fair share of death and would've thought myself hardier. i didn't know him well but we had some meaningful exchanges which made me realize he was a real mensch.

plus i do believe the dead hang around for a bit. no, not believe: i just know it. don't you?

Thanks for this piece, Finnegan. Words outlast us all. "rub me out with one of your tears and write this with wind" Good work.

At your suggestion, I went to the link and found," I am assembling a ladder out of bones, bills, tears and silence. We are like those ghosts that think they are still alive..." One would like to have heard more from this voice.

If he's hanging around, Finnegan, then he's smiling about right now. I hope someone honors me in this way when I'm out of cards.

Pleases the eye and ear, hurts and lifts the heart.

Beautiful, Finn. Captures those desparate last moments eloquently and poetically. A fitting tribute to a poet.

A beautiful elegy, Finnegan.

A really nice tribute, wonderfully said.

thanks, all - there's something about the death of a wordsmith, no matter how untimely, that affects the way we wield the sword thereafter.

Jim stood against the smugness of words. And his mind fought against what he felt was the dishonor of language by those bent upon deceiving themselves from language's truest Holy Grail:

Transformation of the shadows into the knowing knowledge of Light's pure will of intent and wisdom.

I found Jim's personal thoughts he would share with me at Facebook significant and poignant; like the medicine that Grandmother knew was good for you. Your tribute to him Finnegan feels more like a creditor's debt of gratitude and thanks. Jim lived his life as he did, on the terms that he felt was necessary and required by him against the tyranny of a culture smug in its denial against the healing shadows that he stood at the fringes of quite often....

I found Jim timely. And I have found a place where he will continue to reside always within me.

No might of Sorrow
No grim soaked feast of Tomorrow
Shall blind me to the wisdom
Now staining my thoughts
My depths
My ceilings....

Thank you Jim; and thank you Finnegan.

This is poetry for the poet in us all and a remembrance of why it is so important a thing.Thank you Finn.Jim has a fine friend in you and a beautiful goodbye in your words.

So sad! Well done, FF!

Nice tribute.

Jim was a smashing bloke.. he would've been proud to read this wonderful tribute to him, from an equally smashing bloke...

thanks y'all for reading and appreciating. Blessed be who remember their friends.

Beautiful. Star.

your friend Jim, must be smiling at you now.

A powerful and touching tribute, Finnegan. Well done.

very lovely tribute to your dear friend.

A wonderful tribute; "lord of the fireflies" near choked me.

thanks kim, estelle, christian, lisa, beate - i'm more than chuffed about the reception this little impromptu elegy and the late attention jim has received. as always with obituaries (death seems to be my realm), they leave me scratching my head: what now? then we move on with time - to another death. and another. such a frail existence, and so worth our while.

Such a powerful ending for so few words.

Dear Finnegan,
This is a great piece of writing. Amazing how you said so much with so few words. A fave for me.

Is there a chance we could get permission from someone to put Jim's poems on Fictionaut somewhere--give them a permanent home of some kind? They would always have new eyes to see them then. I believe they are that good. They inspire.

I re-posted this on my Facebook profile, and only now saw it here. It so touched me. I want you to write my eulogy.

thanks andrew, bobbi, darryl, katrina. i seem to be writing a hell of a lot of eulogies. i suppose death is a good friend rather than a scarecrow. re: that work of jim's - i added another link, http://bit.ly/bZpqYu with, again, rather good work. check it out.

beautiful and painful. you have a gift for finding the right words on sad days. and reading this hurts twice. a friend of a friend died yesterday in a traffic accident, i received the news this afternoon. we are all just fireflies in the night sometimes, gone to soon.

oh, doro, i am sorry to hear/read this about your friend's friend. death, even twice removed, brings us face to face with the inevitable. it makes me revisit my choices and count my blessings daily. thanks!