MY INSPIRED PROFESSOR

At parties he would cut loose
with a razz-a-ma-tazz soft-shoe,
and sing and mime like Groucho:

If a girl like you, loves a boy like me
and the girl like you, is you.

He taught me a life without fire
is no life at all.

Everybody who knew him
fell a little bit in love:
men, women, young and old.

He shared what he knew
without any self-congratulations

I learned I was on the way
when my fingers were at one with the ivories,
or my bow made a violin sing

He met all human beings as a relational event,
an I-Thou moment that no one could forget.

Without the bombast of drum rolls
or the fanfare of trumpets, he explored the mystery
of how two hearts meet and thrive in love.