The Loss of Fili

 Fili

I remember Fili’s quiet intense eyes,

I remember his willingness to take a risk,

despite the caution he felt toward the world,

the shyness that held him back

from letting us know too much,

I remember his soft smile,

the loving patience he worked to give the world

and to those of us he cared about,

but who he hesitated to let in too far as to who he was,

I remember his diligence and persistence 

in mastering English as a second language,

I remember how he persevered so well in learning 

that college called him and he accepted,

when he was an eighth grader,

readying himself for high school,

I worked with him as he worked

to tell his story on the computer, 

with illustrating pictures,

of how he got to be here,

of his roots in VeraCruz, Mexico,

of his roots in the vitality of family to him,

I was impressed with his gentle soul,

with the strength of self he lived,

with the goodness of his heart,

with the wondrous possibilities that could be before him,

then his story abruptly, tragically, 

came to an end in the moments we know,

his soul, though beyond us now,

must soar as he returns to God.

by Henry H. Walker

July 24, ‘20