All I could I do was look at him
and hold his hand
as he passed over to the next life
It wasn't the grandest of gestures
but I felt the final squeeze
as his body relaxed
and he took his last breath
For some unbeknownst reason
some thirty odd years later
the vision of that scene came flooding back
in my left hand, I raised a glass in his honor
while in my right, I felt a certain warmth
and an odd feeling of pressure
and later, a sense of peace