Ronnie on Skates

In 2014 I spoke with Tommie Sue Fincher-Fleming, a woman who knew my grandfather who passed in 2010. She told me how all the girls loved him. My great-grandparents owned a skating rink in Bridge City, Tx and she had the opportunity to skate with him in his younger days. Upon reaching out to her today for more stories, we learned she passed in 2018. I always thought her words were so beautiful, and it's a privilege to be able to put them into sonnet form.

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Ronnie on Skates

If gliding more smoothly could make you see.

Ronnie, my love, open your eyes and look!

I skate with grace; giving all I can be,

Then Ronnie turn t’ward me, and the rink shook.

I’m holding my breath as the crowd looks on.

You floated around me, taking my hand,

With music and magic you sang your song.

How quickly you swooned me! Charm was your brand.

If dancing were forever, there we’d stay,

Frozen in the moment, our bodies close.

Too perfect to be true, with us this way,

Your kindness poetry, your friendship prose.

I’ll always dream fondly of skies we soared,

For Ronnie on skates was a man and more.

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In loving memory of Ronald Lee Jowell and Tommie Sue Fincher-Fleming