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Poetry Magnum Opus

For those who remember Waxwings


Tinker

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Someone from a discontinued, poetry forum just asked me if I had run into Ike Sarma AKA Waxwings lately.  I have asked about him here and emailed him a few times in the last 4 years and gotten no response.   I decided to do a search on line and found a blurb about him that listed (1931 - 2015) which would indicate to me that he has died.   The heritage site has his name, date of birth and location in Minnesota correct but it says he was Native American Indian and religion Hindu, which he was not.  He was blonde, I've seen photos and has often spoken of being born and growing up in Latvia.  So I don't know if I should believe he died or not.  But I think his death is probably true because we communicated by email over the last 15 years on a fairly regular basis and then nothing the last 4 years.

Ike loved poetry and was a great mentor.  He had an amazing grasp of meter and loved to show that off.  He was a bit of a curmudgeon (that's what a group of us called him) when I first met him in an online study of poetry about 18 years ago.  But he was one of a few who encouraged me to try writing poetry.   I had never even thought of writing before meeting Ike.  Of course he may have encouraged me to write but he would then rip my poems apart showing what I did wrong or a better way to say it.  He knew the craft and was willing to help others gain that knowledge. Sometimes his tactics came across a little rough. But in the end, I realized he saw potential and wanted me to strive to write my best.   When stuck on syntax or meter, I would always check in with him.  I miss him.  

~~Tink

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~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~

For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com

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