Honoring a brilliant Man

I know in my heart of hearts that God understands your loss

Your eyes still wet with anguish and filled with teary gloss.

And well as a dull sadness, which began growing so long ago.

To draw your tears from hidden places you’d prefer to never show.

You planned, you fought, you prayed - you gave all to exhaust

You begged to God and you pleaded, agreed to pay any cost.

And yet beyond this moment of sorrow, looms a glory yet untold

I know neither the hand nor the dice from which it is rolled.

But there is strength knowing virtue, shown to me in this man

A man who values knowledge and giving as best he can.

Then finds joy in the after, facing whatever is to unfold

Now expressed to us in freedom with his immortal soul.

This man who believes that problems are simply riddles to unwind

Taking pleasure in the solving and adding to strength of mind

For simple aims of supporting family, friends and coworkers alike

People of all inclinations, to ride or not ride a bike

His spirit is everlasting, with laws of physics to bind

His energy now expanding, new limits now to find.

This man who sees beyond our faces.  Loves beyond all races.

Solves problems leaving no traces and travels to new and scenic places.

He loves the things that are just as the people in his life

His precious friends and family, his coworkers, his dogs, his wife.

This man set for us an example.  All challenges he embraces.

New problems he now seeks to solve.  New tracks with new chases.

Though you may be weary, perhaps even dismayed

And fibers of your spirit battered and probably a little frayed

From the loss of this man who provides so much

Either from a far, nearby or even through a touch

His spirit lives on, beyond our ability to see.

And one day like him, we too will be free.

Mark, we will see you again my friend, my colleague.