By Moristotle
Ralph’s friend Judith Valerie occasioned my writing the poem below. I was on her distribution list when she notified no doubt scores of individuals who love Ralph to please contribute something to the collection she planned to read to him today. Her including me meant a lot, and I thank her for it.
April 4, 1986 – was that Ralph Earle’s first day
as a tech editor at IBM in Cary, North Carolina?
I’d like to think so, like to believe it was,
love it more if it really was the day I met
this extraordinary human being,
my colleague for several years in Cary.
What makes April 4 that year special?
Think about it. Ralph always did,
and still does. Think about things,
especially for that second or two
of pause before he responds to what you said.
Ralph really listens, really hears,
wants to get it right.
Does it in his poems,
his conversations, his friendships,
his business consultations.
Does it on his walks, where
many of his poems light up.
He and I and others would walk at noon
around that lake beyond our building at IBM.
Dana, Kat, Keith, Fran, Stephanie,
Marva, Sharon, Laurel, Don, Ava...,
usually talking about almost anything,
sometimes even about technical writing.
Years later, Ralph and I and most often Satchel
would walk in this park or that one,
Johnston Mill Nature Preserve,
Briar Creek, Riverwalk, Duke Forest,
Battle Park on our beloved UNC campus,
Lake Michael, American Tobacco Trail,
Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail,
Poet’s Walk in Hillsborough’s Ayr Mount
maybe being our favorite, with its tribute
to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Satchel
often off his leash with his nose
frequently to the ground,
Ralph and me more or less immersed
in ruminative conversation.
That was years later....
But on April 4, 1986,
Ralph reached the halfway point of the year
Judith is helping him celebrate today.
Happy birthday, Ralph,
friend of thirty-five years
(maybe to the day today)!
| Copyright © 2021 by Moristotle |
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