for Rosie and Milt
There will be no more visits to that apartment
There will be no more visits to that apartment
Where the two of them lived so happily
All those years enjoying being with each other
Both of them passionate fighters for social justice.
So sad to speak starting today in the past tense
Using words to keep their memory alive
Though the grief we feel mourning our loss brings a tear
Remembering those two very special people.
The entire city sheltering in place now
Something they practiced for years in their old age
Keeping in contact by phone and email
Living their lives inside that apartment.
Finding joy in a glimpse of the natural world
In the tree seen from their bedroom window
Combined with the way they stayed fierce and true
Standing up against racism and exploitation.
He encouraged me like a father teaching
How to be a labor organizer leading the struggle
When I was young and uncompromised
And the Soviet Union still existed.
She became like a mother to me full of praise
Approving my late in life happy union with a perfect partner
Known to her all these years as a good person
Sure our love will be constant like hers with him.
His name never heard on her lips once he died
She referred to Milt instead as Big Daddy
And now she is dead I find myself likewise reluctant
As her name somehow brings home her departure to me.
Rosie never liked saying goodbye when we parted
Having said goodbye to so many of her generation
And with her passing a cheerful optimist leaves this world
Dearest Rosie who was the best of the best to us.
