A Man Named Jack

The "passing Bill" in Buffalo
passed bills in Washington.
And Jack passed on his legacy
before his life was done.

In an unkempt world
where moral trash
consistently litters the landscape
of a decaying society,
Jack was Kemp.

In an unkempt culture
of careless commitments
and sloppy thinking that contributes
to rampant irresponsibility,
Jack was Kemp.

In an unkempt society
where family values are wrinkled
and the definition of marriage
seems up for grabs,
Jack was Kemp.

In an unkempt and too-often
divided Republican party
where lack of leadership has resulted in
unprecedented chaos and clutter,
Jack was Kemp.

Jack French Kemp
was a stabilizing influence for our time
who brought order and focus
to a nation whose vision for the future
is blurred by a myopic fascination
with tolerance
and a tendency to turn a blind eye
to truth.

This JFK
(unlike another celebrated politician
with the identical monogram)
was a principled man.

For fifty years he invested
in a committed marriage
to the Main who watered the garden
of his heart.
In Joanne he found the mate
for which his soul longed.
He was a contented man.

He was a wealthy man
whose worth and possessions
could not be adequately accounted for
by stock portfolios and real estate alone.
He was well aware of his worth
in the eyes of God.
This amazing man also owned
the love and respect of two sons
and two daughters.
What is more,
he claimed the undying admiration
of seventeen grandchildren.

Here is a man to whom also belonged
the gratitude of countless Americans
whose lives are richer and more significant
for having lived in a country
indelibly marked by a man named Jack.
And I am one.

Peace be to his memory!