Today I do not stand before you

However I would not leave you bereft

Of my last known observations

Let it be clear that my joy

Is due to you all

Living a life of faith

My steps, my families’ steps

Have all been assisted

With your outstretched arms

In prayer, in gifts, in time

My journey has been with you all

A blessed journey it has been

From my family,

From my Passionist family

And with you all

I do stand now

Awaiting my next call to duty

You have prepared me well

I will be eternally grateful

Pax Te Cum

Francis Xavier Cameron 3/18/19

Five years now

Just memories

Powerful memories

Of you

My two sons bear your name

Ironic that you helped watch one

And helped another one heal

Myself, you were huge

Yes, yes a half a foot taller than I

But your graciousness

Humor, wit and musicality

Engaged allNh

But mostly I remember

A man not critical of others

Who allowed me to grow

In my responsibilities

As a father and

Husband to his daughter

Many, many memories

Ultimate home repair man,

Sweet, sweet father

Incredible repertoire of songs

Singing at any moment

Listening conversationalist

A man adoring his wife

Who you left for us

Thank you

Though the whole world may not

Have known you

Those of us who did

Have had blessed lives

Thank you, thank you

Eternally yours

FXC 3/16/19

Just walking down the hall

Saw you preening

In front of the mirror

Smiling

Giggling

Looking up

Then down

Seemingly amazed

By your face

As if for the first time

You were shocked

By how good looking you are

Good reason for that

Youth, youth, youth

Oh yeah and 9 years old

And you are simply beautiful

Grandchildren often are

However a mirror has two sides

I had forgotten the purpose of a mirror

Never knew I had one

A mirror

Just popped up in the morning

Ran my hand over my head

Patting down wayward hair

Mmm I looked good

So many years

I loved me

Young

Free

Healthy

I was my own dream

Problems

Were brushed away

With youthful energy

Only imperceptibly

Did an occasional

Indicator of age

Creep into the back of my mind

To be ignored with the blink of an eye

Only time, relentless time

Would open my eyes

To the gradual erosion

Of my youth

Spent middle age

Pleasantly pleased

With holding my own

Enjoying a moment

Of contrived acceptance

But now as my clock

Winds down

The wind doesn’t

Really catch my sails

I don’t scramble

To correct

What Mother Nature

Has eroded

But oh can I steal a moment

Back, just one

A glance maybe at yesteryear

Maybe Brylcream will show my shine

Or a different haircut

Of my receding hairline

Long gone are hopes

Of a tight midsection

I look around and now only see

The very young or

All my compatriots

But so strange

The mirror is only one side of the coin

The flip side is

The sweetness, the satisfaction

Watching your grandmother’s face

Of fifty years, no mirror

Just her face

Reflecting mine

I love her mirror!

FXC. 3/16/19

Wish I knew then

What I hope I know now

That each moment

Is just that

To be embraced

Enjoyed or suffered

Learning

That there are not infinite moments

No guarantee on success or failure

Blessed or curse

Makes a person

Wonder

Is there a divine plan

Or a crap shoot

People elbowing

Each other to survive

But still

Some hell bent on themselves

But others missioned to help others

Maybe that is the real story

The eternal struggle between good and evil

Possible we will never know

As our final destination

Is yet to be known

Hope springs

From my heart

That good will prevail

“To Dream The Impossible Dream”

FXC 3/2/19

Surreal

Daily we would speak

Morning and night

Then silence

Absolute silence

It might be forever

Before I hear

From you again

As I try to piece

Together where

We were in our

Conversations

Exchanging daily

Activities and plans

Mostly happy

To have someone to

Listen

If I stay real quiet

I can still hear you

Playing over and over

Your gentle musings

Your heart felt queries

About me and mine

So long it seems we had

Each other

Now only memories

Remain

Regina Regina

Really you just shared

Yourself with others

You helped mold and guide

Students family and friends

With your example and love

My heart cries

To hear you again

But I know, I know

Now I must listen

As I learned from you

For those calling me

Always Always

I love you

Frank 2/20/19

Again I hear the refrain,

Vote for me

Follow this path to the Lord

This is good for you

This is bad for you

Don’t eat that

He’s too fat

She’s too skinny

They are the Antichrist

As long as Man/ Woman has walked the earth

Love, Hate have coexisted

Seemingly impervious

To that inconsistency

Pick a century and

Watch the most

Beautiful aspects of humans

Caring, self-sacrifice or

The most vicious side

Killing, denigrating, terrifying evil

It seems to this lost soul

The battle between good and evil

Never ends

fxc 10/14/18

We have been here before

At a funeral home on a cold week day night

Yes, yes he’s a good friend of ours, so is his wife

But at 66 it had to be

He is not with us anymore

The end for so long seemed so far away

No thought was given to it

The whole scene

Distraught family and friends

Seeking answers when there are none

Our understanding of death still cloaked

In the mystery of life itself

Not much more to say

FXC 2/24/18

Skittering
Across my shoes
As I walk
Wrinkled and crinkled
Weightless brown leaves
Seemingly so full of life
Blowing so quickly
As to be out of view
Wisked by the wind
Makes me happy to walk
Greeting the deepest part of fall
The leaves define this moment
But what of the spring of their life
Waving valiantly in the sky
Hanging out of reach so high
Like a child’s crayon box
The seasons are etched
In your ever changing colors
Like a kite in spring
To a hang glider
Destined to land
Your life, you share
And then die
To dance in the street
Thank you
My ever humble friend

FXC

12/19/17

Didn’t wear my hearing aid
Nor my glasses
To attend a 50 year high school reunion
Not really too bright
As I tightly squeezed my eyes
To read the scribbled name tag
On the fellow accross from me
Now practiccally boring into his chest
Quite sure his wife standing nearby
Was hoping this was not one of her husbabds friends
Not once once, twice but at leasr three times
I pushed my face forward to read the name
No longer did I care
How obviuous my ignorance was
I needed to know this man’s name
And then finallh I had it, BRIAN POWERS
Yeah, yeah, Brian Powers
Why didnt the bells go off
The lights turn on
In a very old mind
That has been slipping into disaray
Stepping back, trying to test
Decrepit memory banks
Cobwebs covering
The faces of classmates
Hmm Brian Powers
Slowly a very faint light
Shown on another classmate
Previously met
Ah, oh so slowly
The two fellows agakn were
Linked in my mond
Ah yes Brian Powers as if
Feom behind the green foor appeared
50 years, Brian Powers again
But oh what a night then
Storytelling and sweet, such sweet
Rememberences
As I again relived our childhood and
Learned a bit of the past years
Oh Dear Lord thank you
For this night
In which Brian Powers and I
Again shared our lives

FXC 10/23/2017

Golly,
What happened
It seems as if we were minding our own business
Trying to help others when we could
Enjoying our children and grandchildren
Like most, we had up and down times
Never really thought about US
How we would fare with Father time
But here we are now
Sometimes showing up in hospital garb
Other times a visiting nurse arrives
Maybe more of a limp or a new wrinkle
Slower yes we are much slower
But it seems as if your face is just the same
So soft and inviting
Can’t stop wanting to just hold you
Father Time might be counting the sand crystals
But our time will always be now
I love you.

fxc 10/8/17