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FAREWELL TO
A FATHER
At edge of the grave,
this farewell to a father,
these thanks to a man who
wanted no thanks,
nor reminders to rise on ten-thousand dark
mornings because love, he knew, takes work,
who met responsibilities the
way most of us simply breathe,
without thought or calculation,
just the breathing in and out,
a reflex of generosity as
effortless as air, while
helping neighbors mend pants
or strangers find their way,
with mind and hands joined together
in something more than prayer,
he stood on level ground, taking
measure of a world
so desperate for repair,
and did his best.
He cut the pattern of our lives.
-For Jerry Schechter, 1918-2008
Devoted husband, father, and grandfather,
cooperator, garment worker, union man, reader
of books & people, artful sculptor, ingenious fixer of
things, socialist, idealist, cynic, pragmatist, New Yorker,
and Jew through and through.
Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, June 14, 2009