Happy New Year! I’m glad to see 2023 go. It wasn’t a great year. Better than 2022, I guess, but still not up to any “good year” standards. Adding to the non-greatness was the loss of a lot of good folks who bought us much joy and made life better for us. We also lost some not-so-good folks but maybe that helped make the year a little better. Anyway, here is a partial list, in meter and rhyme, of notables who left us in 2023. My apologies if I have left out your favorite personality.
They Left Us in 2023
Bernard Kalb, David Crosby,
Bobby Hull could hit that puck.
Cindy Willams, Gina Lollobrigida,
Lisa Marie Presley ran out of luck.
Burt Bacharach, Tom Smothers,
Bob Richards, pole vaulting great,
Raquel Welch, Tim McCarver,
Otis Taylor met his fate.
Robert Blake, Harry Belafonte,
Amad Jamal, piano player,
Jerry Springer, Gordon Lightfoot,
Charles Stanley, devil slayer.
Ed Ames and Jim Brown,
Mark Russell played satire.
George Maharis, Tina Turner,
Vida Blue brought batters’ ire.
Pat Robertson and Jim Hines,
Greg Foster of track and field,
Chaim Topol, Hodding Carter,
Ted Kaczynski had to yield.
Silvio Berlusconi, Alan Arkin,
Robert Hanssen, FBI mole,
Treat Williams, Glenda Jackson,
Johnny Lujack crossed the goal.
Daniel Ellsberg, Lowell Weicker,
Tony Bennett sang a great song.
Peter Nero and Paul Reubens,
Rosalynn Carter lived life long.
Bill Richardson, Jimmy Buffet,
Roger Whittaker, balladeer,
Brooks Robinson, David McCullum,
Dick Butkus had no fear.
Diane Feinstein, Suzanne Somers,
Bob Barker, Price is Right host.
Richard Roundtree, Matthew Perry,
Bobby Knight gave up the ghost.
Henry Kissinger, Ryan O’Neal,
Burt Young, Rocky’s kin,
Sandra Day O’Connor, Norman Lear,
Frank Borman, a man among men.
Most of those we hate to see go,
Some not so much, don’t you know.
It doesn’t matter, they’re all gone.
To 2023 we say, “So long”.
My Poetry That Rhymes 