LION-HEARTED MAN (R.I.P. Marques Bovre)
From a distance
(when first I spied him
setting up his gear in church)
I thought he was an old man
He walked with a cane
Could barely negotiate
setting up his guitar
but his daughter helped
The closer I got to Marques
the clearer the view and
I knew this was a man
not only young, but vital
His face shined, his eyes
danced, and when he sang
it was coming from an old soul
with a kid’s sense of fun
The band played many of
his songs, the heart of
the ministry, seeds
sown for the Gospel
But it wasn’t a cult of
personality; Marques
was too humble for that
He said he was a servant
Then came the diagnosis
Rumors of tumors, he
even gave them names:
Hobgoblin and The Creep
Hoped to see spring flowers
He loved Dandelions and
made me love them too
He struggled but always smiled
We lost him this week
A lion-hearted man who
knew who he was, whose he was
and where he was going
We had many months to prepare
for this day, this awful news
The truth is: You can prepare
for someone to be dying
but you can’t prepare for
when they are actually dead
Marques, brother, father, friend
We’ll sing your songs to the end
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Marques Bovre, singer, guitarist, composer, artist-in-residence at Lake Edge United Church of Christ’s “Worship at the Edge,” died this week at the age of 50.
There have been numerous fundraisers to help pay for his cancer treatments over the past year or so, which brings me back to the fundamental question: Why should ANYONE have to have fundraisers to pay for CEOs to have private planes and yacht trips to Bermuda? Health care is a right. Now, Marques would be the first to say he was no better than anyone else in this world (in fact, on his last CD, “Nashville Dandelion,” there was one song called, “On The Body Of Christ, I Am The A**hole.” That’s his wry sense of humor, and we loved him for it).
Please visit Marques’ site HERE. There are his songs, his story. He never proselytized, and yet a more fervent believer I never knew. If you like what you hear, BUY SOME MUSIC. Tracy still has medical bills to cover, in the midst of her grief. It will mean a lot to the whole family, and to me.
Rest in peace, brother. This poem will be at dverse Open Mic Night and at Imaginary Garden With Real Toads (man, Marques would have dug that title), where the garden is open for any and all new poems. Love, Amy
Feb 12, 2013 @ 01:09:42
So very sad to lose such an inspiring soul…so sorry for your loss…but his music will live on… I do agree health care is a right… take care!
Feb 12, 2013 @ 03:05:02
I am sad for the world’s loss, but rejoice in your praise for a good man. (Shone, not shined, at least in UK English. Send the bracketed remark to trash, please Amy)
Feb 18, 2013 @ 23:39:09
Viv, just got to this post. Put that remark you mentioned in Circular File! I know it probably should be “shone,” but “shined” is acceptable in the US, as are hydrogenated crap for lunch, causing earthquakes to release natural gas, hindering brown people’s right to vote, squelching women’s access to reproductive care… and of course, militias! Peace, Amy
Feb 12, 2013 @ 03:24:03
sounds like an interesting dude. sorry that he passed.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 04:20:18
Thank you for sharing Marques with us , Amy. love and hugs for you and all there that are grieving and missing him.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 06:19:08
I’m so sorry for your loss, but what a wonderful tribute you have here, Amy.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 07:21:32
man, stinks when we lose the good ones….i am sorry for your loss amy, your churches loss and the worlds….a felt tribute…
Feb 18, 2013 @ 23:49:53
Thank you all for your kind words. The lines about being able to prepare for someone dying but not for them being dead came from a conversation I had with band member Charlie Bakken, because he said what we always say…”Seems like this wouldn’t hit me so hard, I’ve had so long to prepare…”
Feb 12, 2013 @ 07:22:14
Such a beautiful piece that shares this wonderful person in verse.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 07:43:24
Amy, what a profound ending, we can prepare for dying but not that someone is actually dead. I would have loved to have met Marques, and I’m so sorry for the loss. I was going to say that I’m sorry he’s gone, but with all the love I feel in your poem, love I’m sure many others feel, Marques will never be “gone.” Sounds like a life well lived. Thank you for sharing him with me. xoxo Sara
Feb 18, 2013 @ 23:50:39
Sara, his music is all over the place, too. Better than the Saroyan way of “staying alive”! Love, A
Feb 12, 2013 @ 07:52:19
Your elegy shows a man loved, a man worthy, a community loss. Beautifully done.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 08:38:55
Such a moving tribute to one so inspiring. Those with so much to contribute are sadly the victim of circumstances. Nicely Amy!
Hank
Feb 12, 2013 @ 09:14:37
Wonderful. Thanks, Amy. -Kevin
Feb 12, 2013 @ 09:39:14
Very moving, Amy, thank you for putting it into such eloquent words. We should all toast his life with some dandelion wine.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 09:59:44
Oh Amy, what a man! Lion-hearted and joyous and deeply humble. Such a loss. Your words remember him well and thankfully he has cd’s so his music will live on. Yes, health care is a right. His light went out way too soon.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 11:32:52
I am so sorry Amy–I am so moved by this write Amy!
Feb 12, 2013 @ 11:38:59
Powerful and moving tribute, Amy!
Feb 12, 2013 @ 11:56:35
Wow seems like a great man who will be missed. I love when you find gems like these, real people with a real presence and presence of mind. So sorry for the loss. Great write.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 17:44:23
So true, Amy. You CAN prepare for someone dying (or think that you are preparing for that), but you really cannot prepare for having that person suddenly dead. There are some losses we are never ready for. This man, for you, seems to be one of those. I am glad you wrote this poem to commemorate him & also to share him with others who did not know him!
Feb 12, 2013 @ 18:46:22
What a tribute, you are a star Amy
Feb 12, 2013 @ 20:19:47
A very touching tribute to a man who touched so many. You were fortunate your paths crossed.
Feb 12, 2013 @ 22:30:25
You really had feelings for this young man–only 50??? I’m sorry you are sad, My condolences to you and others.We can prepare for death, but cannot prepare BEING dead. A gem of thought there. It is the one place we each and every one–go by ourselves Alone, but hopefully–NOT lonely!
PEACE, Little Pencil!
Steve
Feb 13, 2013 @ 03:02:37
Wonderful poem and lovely tribute to your friend. My sympathies for your loss.
Feb 13, 2013 @ 05:47:56
Ah. Very sad. Terrible disease. K.
Feb 13, 2013 @ 07:13:19
Great tribute…
Feb 13, 2013 @ 15:50:42
agree with you about health care being a right. in the usa you also have the ndaa saying that you can be indefinitely detained without trial and yet the only right people fight for is to carry a gun, which seems to me the thing you only need after everything else logical has been stripped away. i hope we do not copy you in these things. it sounds as though mr bovre was living amongst friends and appreciated for his music. great poem
Feb 13, 2013 @ 15:56:52
This is a great portrait of a beautiful soul. I’m sorry for your loss, envious that I never met him. Love to you and Lex and La Riles, Moskywitz
Feb 13, 2013 @ 22:33:50
What a lovely tribute to your friend and fellow bard. People like your Marques have the inner light shining thru them and the chosen can see it and you captured it perfectly. You have written a fine epithet. surely, he is smiling on the other side.
Feb 14, 2013 @ 13:17:33
he loved dandylions makes him seem like such a simple kind person who can even love weeds for their beautify
Initiated Kiss
Feb 18, 2013 @ 06:59:06
This touching tribute pierces my heart. Thank you for introducing him to us.