For Lolita

Our brash little Lolita is quiet today.
No more louder, more politely, quietly. No more.
Bruce’s performance is no longer interrupted.
No more upstaging with a vibrant la la la la.
The Siamese cat wonders where its friend has gone. She is no more.
Our day is emptier.
Our hearts are hollower.
Our smiles are upside down.
It would only take that upside down turn of your head to make us all smile again.
We will not get that funny look and today our smile will stay upside down.
We and thirty million others though will never forget the laughs you brought each and every day.
A laugh from Lolita. No more.
It is we who will miss you – those you left behind
We will not dishonor your life with sadness beyond this selfish moment we must hold for ourselves.
Today our smiles will be upside down, but then tomorrow, because of you, no more.

Be free.

Bill Toone
September 4, 2004