Monty and Muriel are dead.
I knew neither of them
but people I love
feel an absence
due to their respective absences
so I feel a little something, too.

Grant is also dead.
He’s a stranger to me, as well,
though I knew him by reputation
of his great works
some time ago.
He, too, has left an awful hole
in an awfully great number of people
some of whom I care about greatly.

It’s a shame
how only after one’s passing
can one be appreciated
by the greatest number of bodies.
Only in death
is it likely for Grant
to get his due.

I don’t really know
what’s coming for Muriel, though,
and as for Monty?
Forget it.