Theodore Seuss Geisel 1904-1991 Dr. Seuss, you gave us the rhymes of our lives as children we loved you, your words, idolized. You gave us the cats with the hats A through Z, and that elephant, horton, who sat in a tree. You told us of fish one and two, red and blue, and of thidwick the moose, and hats of bartholomew, from your pen did you hurtle, that yertle the turtle, and solla sollew and oobleck, and lorax, and if I ran the zoo, and if I ran the circus, and McElligot's pool, too. now that you've gone, gone on beyond zebra, to that land of green eggs and ham, a moment of silence, for you, Dr. Seuss, a moment throughout all the land. So, cat, for a moment, please take off your hat, and Mr. brown, please hold your moo... (moment of silence) ...And grinch, could you, would you, please leave us alone, for just the next christmas or two? Farewell, Dr. Seuss "Then he shut up the Things In the box with the hook. And the cat went away With a sad kind of look." From "The Cat in the Hat" Cecil Williams 9/28/91 ******************************* Dedicated to my Grandfather, Cecil Williams: Tennessee Fondly My father's father, whom we called Papa was Grand, he plowed the earth of his land with the sweat of his brow, and the strength of his hand. No tractor; he had two mules, a white one named jane and a black one with a name acceptable in that time and place. They pulled his wagon, and his plow... And he grew cotton, corn, and tater's; he grew melons, and tomater's he grew cane, for sugar; and he picked it all by hand. He had hogs, dogs, chickens, and he grew other things too, whatever he wanted; or so it seemed to this young sir for he was a grand, grand Man of the Land. Cecil Williams 10/16/91 ************************ ZEV KEDEM "I had fantasies about being the owner of a loaf of bread, and not having to defend it" said the distinguished-looking gentleman, remembering when he was a boy of 10, cold, and starving his way through 6 Nazi POW camps. "But I don't remember feeling the cold or the hunger". Every minute, every bit of energy was spent struggling to stay alive, and looking for something to eat. "The barracks were off limits until after dark so we sat in our shirts in the falling snow in rows, each person sitting on the feet of the one before him to conserve body heat." "Sleep in your boots! Muddy or not, never take them off or they will be stolen immediately." Without boots, life was measured in days, not weeks. "At night, be sure to cover all of your flesh with the blanket. Don't leave any body part exposed. The rats are starving too, and will bite you in the dark." "I once was peeling potato's and I gouged out an eye of the potato; "WHAM!" my head is nearly knocked off my shoulders The German soldier behind me is letting me know I didn't do it right." "When I was 10, they sent five of us kids from the factory to Auschwitz to be gassed with our [step]fathers because children under 13 were simply not allowed. We arrived at night but they forgot to kill us. Later I learned that they were distracted that night by a Russian advance." "One day a handsome, well-dressed German man came in with cookies but I had learned to suspect such offerings even in starvation." The other four children were eager though, and later disappeared with the "nice man", Joseph Mengele. "I saw my mother for the first time in months at Auschwitz. She was leaving on the train for the factory. This meant she was alive and would live for a while longer at least. One did not dare wave or show recognition for fear of attracting attention or a bullet. The next time I saw my mother, I was 50, she was 80, and on her deathbed; It was the happiest moment of her life." "I didn't hate the Germans" says the distinguished-looking gentleman. "I was always trying to keep alive and find something to eat." "Hate is a luxury one cannot afford at such times." Excerpted from a speech given by Zev Kedem, a Schindler's List Survivor Moscow, Idaho 4/12/95 ****************************** Cecil Williams The Thinker Upon my desktop sits a man stone frozen in time's falling sand, with heart of plaster, skin of black and rippled muscles front and back. Deep in thought upon my desk his bum upon a rock is pressed, right elbow poked into left thigh with downward heavy glance of eye. This statuesque man wears no clothes but strikes a well-known mortal pose, of deepest thoughtful contemplation of the human situation. Within my mind's eye he is me and I am him and we are we, we're always thinking he and I where when and what and how and why. Found in Nagoya quite by chance but his deep roots lie back in France, for he's a copy of the man produced by Auguste Rodin's hand, I Think... Cecil Williams 5/5/93 ************************* On the Closing of the Harvard Road Bridge I can't get there from here anymore. The bridge is out. It closed this week. It's a weak old structure, tired and worn; Broken supports, a cracked lane, a sagging deck about to give way. This was our bridge for a long old time; lots of water gone under. At times a raging torrent, sometimes only a trickle, but each season flowed with its own beauty. You left, moved away, took the kids and went to live on the other side. And now, the bridge is closed. I can see you over there, so close it seems, but I can't reach you, can't get near enough to talk to you. My shouts of "I love you" are lost in the air, never reaching your ears. The bridge should have lasted our lifetime, but now it speaks of neglected maintenance, forgone repairs. Who would have thought a structure of concrete and steel would decay? The bridge sits quietly now, unused, dying a natural death. And I'm left behind, stranded here in our past. Someday a new bridge will cross this river. Someone will help build it, bigger and stronger than before. It'll cross this same river but to a different place. And though I'll still see you over on the other side, I know I can never get there from here again. Cecil Williams 7/17/92 ************************* Dead Red Rose O your love was like the red red rose That wilts and soon expires, Now your love is like the funeral dirge That plays oe'r dead men's pyres Though fair you are, my future Ex, You're out of love for me, And though I love you still, my dear, My heart must set you free. My heart must set you free, my dear, And my tears could fill the sea, Because I love you still, my dear, But your love is not for me. So fare thee well, my only love, Our life paths now must part, And you shall come no more, my love, Oh, broken, is my heart. (With Apologies to Robert Burns) Cecil Williams Thanksgiving Day, 1991 ***************************************** Blue Light Special The appliance section at K-mart. Major appliances, stereos and TV's; Two or three walls full of TV's. I was fifteen, K-mart shoppers, on that wonderful strange day way back in 1969. People from all over the store wandered over to major appliances to stand like so many mannequins watching all those tv's... The same surreal drama playing out on every channel. It seemed ethereal, eternal, as we stood there watching, nearly paralyzed; forgetting to breath; and finally... finally, Neal spoke. A great cheer went up from the crowd, and I remember shuddering, as a tear of pride for my country rolling down my cheek: "Houston, Tranquility Base Here" "The Eagle has landed" Cecil Williams 8/31/92 **************************