A Brother Down
In Memory Of Owen Richard Haines II.
June 7th 1946, April 3rd, 2001

"Time heals all wounds," cried the bard from his grave,
but he never foresaw what has happened today.

"You will get over it" was the cry of another,
but honestly Lord, they had never met this brother.

From the sole of his shoes to the peak of his cover,
stood a man so unique, he was like no other.

He was my brother, we were joined at our soul,
but to so many others his loss was a toll.

A toll so great that it set such a price,
it's payment un- thinkable, what cost such a life?

The man was a brother, a father and friend,
husband and and lover and true to the end.

It's truly unusual the depth of this man,
the lives that he reached out and touched as a friend.

To his wife and his lover the sun and the moon,
impossible to think it can be over this soon.

To his children a white knight upon his white steed,
whose loss is so painful it makes their hearts bleed.

To his mother the soldier that held her esteem,
the son that embodied her lost husband's dream.

To his friends just unthinkable, no, this cannot be true,
the loss of a man for which nothing would do,

But to offer himself for what ever need that they held,
his love and his friendship to them he would meld.

And selfish I know because I believe,
that the loss that I suffer is greater than these.

For I loved him more than a meter can measure,
a scale could weigh or a whole ship could carry.

But now O.R. walks in wheat fields and barley,
and by this time tomorrow, will have tuned the Lord's Harley.

Rod Foley 04/06/2001

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