It was another beautiful winter day. I returned to the creek house as the sun was setting and beers were being cracked. This evening there were two swans navigating the thin layer of ice now coating Hog Creek. As we stood and watched the swans try and figure out what to do Nisse got a call from our friend Rossa. She soon got off the phone and returned to where Tommy, Sebastian, and I were standing by the water's edge. Harvey Shapiro, the long time boyfriend and companion of Rossa's mom, Galen Williams, was dying and there wasn't anything that could be done about it. After a long and accomplished life it was his time to go. We cheers'd and made a toast to the heavens in Harvey's name. Just then the two swans began to run as fast as they could, their large flat feet clamoring on the alien ice. With wings flapping they persevered and took flight, and in a beautiful display honked off towards Gardiners Bay. Nothing else had to be said.
This is the obituary that the New York Times would publish the next day, definitely worth reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/books/harvey-shapiro-poet-of-new-york-and-beyond-dies-at-88.html?_r=0
RIP Harvey, you will be missed.
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