So, another one’s gone, then,
this one a long way from
his three score years and ten.
In their prime they bestrode
the whole world, their music
to some trite, to others sublime:
whatever, they were of our time
and there were enough of them
to satisfy everyone’s taste
before the Grim Reaper
began to take his toll.
This year I’ve announced
their deaths in my classes
to bemused stares from
a new generation of teens.
“Who, sir?” they ask,
“Was that rock’n roll?”
Ah, as we did, they live
in the present, not the past
having their own idols
while ours are dying fast.
Like the fallen stars
we’ve had our day
those not dead yet
merely withering away.
this one a long way from
his three score years and ten.
In their prime they bestrode
the whole world, their music
to some trite, to others sublime:
whatever, they were of our time
and there were enough of them
to satisfy everyone’s taste
before the Grim Reaper
began to take his toll.
This year I’ve announced
their deaths in my classes
to bemused stares from
a new generation of teens.
“Who, sir?” they ask,
“Was that rock’n roll?”
Ah, as we did, they live
in the present, not the past
having their own idols
while ours are dying fast.
Like the fallen stars
we’ve had our day
those not dead yet
merely withering away.
