No Words (A Poem)

No Words

(A Poem)

What do you say-

To a life of honor,

A life well lived,

A blessed life,

An extraordinary life,

Drawn to a close?

There are no words.

 (7 months ago)

The elevator door opens,

A delicately withered face,

This is him,

I think,

I am finally seeing him!

“Say Hello to Father Hesburgh, kids!”

Says the man pushing the wheelchair,

I try to speak,

But I have-

No words.

(3 days ago)

I wake up early,

To a sunny London morning,

I groggily grab for my phone,

An e-mail,

A sinking feeling,

Once again,

I have-

No words.

We try,

We try,

All of us try,

From the President,

To TV news hosts,

To our dearest friends:

We try to find the words,

To describe the-

Lifechanging,

Legacy Bulding,

Change Galavanizing,

Justice Seeking,

Life,

But nothing will suffice.

We are all left with,

No words.

How do you sum up a life?

How do you take tiny sounds,

And scratches on paper,

To live up to a person,

Who’s life influence,

Has echoed through our campus,

Our country,

Our world.

How do you sum up a life?

Of a person who held hands with Martin Luther King,

Of a person who made friends with popes and presidents,

Of a person who believed that everyone

(regardless of gender)

Deserved a chance to dream beneath the Dome.

How do you sum up that life?

(Today)

In my tiny room in Paris,

I am given the impossible task,

To take an incredible life,

And type it into a coherent form,

But after scouring my thesaurus,

And reflecting, praying.

I have realized that the life of

Father Ted Hesburgh,

Is beyond one of

Mere words.