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Post by beth on Sept 24, 2017 23:49:19 GMT -5
Our friend, Jim Woodward, has passed away after a 2 year battle with cancer. Jumbo had many, many friends online and off who are sure to feel an empty spot now that he's gone. Please sign this remembrance thread. With love .......  |
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Post by mouse on Sept 25, 2017 3:55:01 GMT -5
bless him.. RIP Jim
ive no doubt he put up a strong fight..
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ladylinda
Moderatorz 
Poetry Editor
July 2011 Member of the Month, May 2014 Member of the Month
Posts: 4,901
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Post by ladylinda on Sept 25, 2017 9:00:25 GMT -5
Jim was a lovely man and yes, he was a warrior. He fought against cancer and all his other health problems for years.
If willpower alone could stave off death Jim would have been immortal.
I wrote this tribute poem for him last night which I'll share on here.
The Passing of a Great Soul: For Jim (Jumbo):
Larger than life in every way, it seems
Impossible for your great frame to be
Neutered in death, all your heaving volcanic passion
Silenced at last. How can it be that you,
So full of life, so much the warrior
Should be laid low by the foetid assassin cancer?
Yet you lie dead.
You kept your secrets well, both good and bad,
Yet there were some of them you shared with me,
Others that I discovered for myself.
For all your faults and sins, I loved that big
Heart that blazed out from you always, the true
Passion and sincerity that always surged
Out of your man-mountain frame. Loyal and true you were,
Yet you lie dead.
For all that you, like me, had a chequered past,
Your soul retained a radical innocence,
A fierce belief in what you saw as right,
And though at times your dogma shackled you
So that you spoke and walked with handcuffs,
You kept your faith, lived in a world of absolutes,
Certain that you were right. The love you gave
Shines up to God, even beyond the grave,
Though you lie dead.
Too many deaths crowd in upon me lately:
Anna has left us; now charismatic Jumbo
Flies off, like Elijah or Enoch, in a whirlwind
Whisked straight from earthly realms to heaven above,
And all the broken flowers of the world,
The strangled sobs, the poisoned fish, testify
To the sad passing from us of a great soul,
Ash and earth’s bones pulled upwards in sheer shock
Now you lie dead.
Dear Jim, dear loyal friend, dear sweetie-pie,
I told you more than once that I saw you
As my ideal man. In another time and place
We could have been a couple, joined in love
And mutual respect. Farewell, dear Jim;
Each of us remnants of a dying tribe
But resolute to hold on to our heritage.
Though you lie dead
At any moment I expect
You to rise up, a big grin on your face,
And, laughing, say: ‘I fooled you there!’
Wherever the wind may take you now
I know your cloud blossoms with fiery love.
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Post by annaj26 on Sept 25, 2017 10:29:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the nice thread, Beth. I'm really sorry to hear this. Jumbo was one of those people who could argue his opposition into the wall and still be a friend to all. Not everybody could deal with that, but I liked him. Rest in Peace, big guy. You touched a lot of lives.  |
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Post by Dex on Sept 25, 2017 11:03:27 GMT -5
R. I. P. Jim.
We won't forget you.
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Post by Sysop3 on Sept 25, 2017 17:09:54 GMT -5
Sorry to hear this.
RIP
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Post by deyana on Sept 25, 2017 22:04:30 GMT -5
RIP Jim
You will be missed dearly.
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Post by fretslider on Sept 28, 2017 7:20:08 GMT -5
Jumbo will be sorely missed.
A man of principled views.
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Omega
