PARADISE (for Dr. Madison U. Sowell)

“There is no music yet on earth
That can compare with ours” –
The Children of the Spirit World
Still sing with Morning Stars –

The Sons of God still shout for joy –
Ten thousand Daughters dance –
Saint Carolyn still laughs about
Their innocent romance –

While Sister Shauna leads the Choir
In hymns of solemn prayer –
With one hand on piano keys
And one hand in the air!

Saint Jeanny orders Manna Flakes
And Nectarines for all –
Which Madison and Debra share
With angels great and small –

Then Brother Dante reads the Poem
He wrote for Beatrice –
And E. B. Browning dedicates
Songs “from the Portuguese” –

Now Honored Students celebrate
And colleagues say “Bravo!”
To one whose tune has changed our lives:
We bid you fond “Addio!”

(7 August 2009, Pleasant Grove and Provo, Utah)

(JoLynn Bennett mentioned Madison Sowell to me when we passed a new professor on campus in 1979. Madison was one of the people who helped JoLynn win a full-ride scholarship to Yale. When I returned to BYU as a new professor in the early 1990's, he kindly cited my Dickinson research, attended my RMMLA conference presentation, and wrote a letter for my Third Year Review. He invited me to submit a proposal for an Honors seminar on Emily Dickinson and later for an Honors Advanced Writing course. What a kind friend, mentor, and associate!)