Gladys Irene Piersee was born May 16, 1925, in Keokuk, Iowa. She married Arthur E. Dunlap in 1943 and died May 24, 1985 at the age of 60, in Keokuk, Iowa.

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My friend, Mick, was a quadraplegic the last 10 years of his life and died in 1996. We had been friends for most of 30 years.

My friend, Arland passed away on July 19, 1999, at the age of 47. I have no photos of him.

The poem was written while watching CNN as the Coast Guard conducted a search mission for the bodies of JFK Jr., his wife, and his sister-in-law.

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CONTRASTS

I can feel a loss incalculable as I sit and ponder
on the life of a dead friend.
He was a drunk and smoked like a fiend,
but when he was sober, he was ...
well, words can't really capture that.

Listening to CNN as they talked about the death of
yet another Kennedy,
I cringed a little at the overwhelming sadness of
promises unfulfilled ...
I think of starry nights and brilliant days
that will never come again.

The contrast of these two lives saddens me too.
The two seem to blend in my mind into a medley
of lost hopes ... and unfulfilled dreams.

How often have I questioned
what purpose life might have?

How often have I wondered what would become
of Arland ... and what would become of
this younger John; but the thoughts were different
because I despaired of the one
and hoped for the other.

What a contrast in actuality these two really were --
and yet, I will never hear a mention of the one
without thinking of the other.

Arland was like a sunbeam in a high meadow
when first I met him, but
the darkness was falling even then,
thirty years ago.

I remember John John saluting as
President Kennedy's casket passed by.
The grainy black and white of our television set
seemed to thrust him into the middle of our living room
like a flashing laser.

Life is over now for both of them.
May they rest forever in whatever final peace awaits us all.

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My Grandmother, born Velma Wise, in Illinois, on July 17, 1907, and died Velma Piersee Butcher in 1986. She was preceded in death by my Grandfather, Arthur Piersee, her son, Howard Piersee who vanished in Korea, and her daughter Gladys (my mother) as well as her second husband, William (Bill) Butcher.

My friend, Sha Sha, Charlene Qinzi. My book was dedicated to her (Entwined In Wonder, copyright, Jim Dunlap, published by Cedar Bay Press, LLC, Beaverton Washington, 1996). She was murdered in her apartment by a twelve year old pyromaniac.

My friend, Cha Cha, was murdered in her apartment (with no fire escape) on April 12,
1993, by a 12 year old male pyromaniac. She was 38.
Over 20 years, we were friends.


AN ELEGY FOR CHA CHA

I remember a smile --
Soft, long, brown hair
And eyes that knew
Far too much.
Life ravaged you.
Raped at 12 ...
Mistreated and abused --
The little girl you were
Died all too young.
The paper had the story:
A twelve-year-old punk
Lit the fire
That left you
And your German Shepherd dog
Dead of smoke inhalation.
Nearly thirty years
We were friends.
Goodbye ...

May death treat you
Better than
Life
Ever did.


The NEOVICTORIAN, 1995

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