Rest Well Uncle Lou

what I remember when I think of you is your being in the pool

skimming leaves with a net made from a hula hoop

while we were on our mandatory half hour break after eating

but most people would say that your most memorable trait

was the missing arm you shot off when you were just a kid

something I never really noticed or thought of often

that never stopped you from doing anything much

you still went to the gun club and fished the lake

with that special fishing rod that had a motor in the reel

and I remember how you used to yell at your beagle

whose name was Oliver and seemed to drive you nuts

but I know that the yelling was really just a ruse

or later when you got smaller and your voice grew hoarse

but there was always a story or joke or moral

and a mischievous twinkle in your eye

now you can be free from the constraints of this world

free to visit with the ones gone too early from your life

but I will always remember you this way, my Uncle Lou.