Bill Roberts, Poet

My interview with the Smiling Irishman

Author: Bill Roberts

My interview with the Smiling Irishman

Pat Duffy, lasted over an hour,

me interviewing him more than him me.

I was there, I thought, seeking

a part-time job as a coach to budding sales

men and women, all young, all

employed by that large telephone company.

Somehow Pat let it slip that he was

born in Bayonne, a town I knew, in New

Jersey, where my wife and her

family lived, so we explored the entire

State, pointing out only its plusses.

Like me, he was a chemist, his specialty

chemical sales, and he knew lots

of the guys I’d worked with at Oakite

Products in New York, Rene Bernie

one of our favorites, quite a coincidence.

We both loved opera, our favorite

male aria, Una furtiva lachrima, from

“The Elixir of Love,” which we

proceeded to sing together, quite badly.

He professed how lucky he was

to have married the girl he did, and I said

likewise, they having three boys,

us, no kids, only dogs.  Oh, they had a dog.

We began to run down a bit, so I snuck

a glance at my watch, time to return home.

I said, Well….  Pat said nothing, then

told me he’d see me again tomorrow.  I

asked, To continue the interview?  He

chuckled, said No, to get to work.  Though

I was only paid ten dollars an hour and

Pat made eleven, I never held it against him.

It was always fun to go to work with

the Smiling Irishman, his luminous smile

immediately guaranteeing a good day.

Note:  This poem is unpublished.  I post it today because I’m just home from Pat’s funeral, one of those rare happier-than-sad get-togethers on a brilliantly sunny, hot day in Boulder, Colorado.  Pat was also a rare character, one we always looked forward to seeing, being with him and dear wife Isabel.  His luminous smile was always there, and if he thought ill of anyone, he swallowed his words, kept a positive attitude.  Folks like Pat you just hate to lose.  A bright, guiding candle has gone out in our lives.  Oh, we’ll continue to get out and about with Isabel, Pat in spirit smiling in the empty seat.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 22nd, 2011 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Aging, Human Nature, Humor, Love, Nostalgia, That's Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.