Running across John Woolley
after all these years
still possibly the sweetest man
I've ever known
and he remembered me
while it took me
a few moments to place him
once I did
I flood of memories
came rushing in

He told me that his second grandchild
had been born
only eight days before
he seemed elated
and Carroll, my wife, reminded him
that she'd once met his son
the father of this newborn
at a party
hosted by a mutual friend
a musical soiree though neither she
nor he were among those of us
who played

He mentioned just in passing
his wife Ann Marie
with whom I'd sung
played music
who had been
a member of our little folk band
Macchu Picchu
and who had died of cancer
now five years this June

John was so warm
so gracious that I've felt
my spirits lifted
since that brief encounter
yesterday
as if it were his gift
to heal the grief
that others feel for him
whose loss was and is real
I'm glad for his new grandson