Be The Hokey!

Under his hat my uncle's smile permanently hung like a weathered sign creaking in the wind singing in the rain as present as sunrise and sunset. a smile always bursting into laughter like flames catching the kindling becoming a roaring fire. His hat and him the one thing only taken off every now and then. Pushed back on his head in an amazed gesture to what a little boy had said: 'Well...be the hokey! ' Or' Be the Holy Dublin! ' The same words spoken in a thousand different ways set alight with his smile's delight. Now he has walked off without his hat Death told him he had no need of it I wait like a child for him to come back hoist me with a hand upon his back place his hat upon my head laugh like mad at anything I said as I inhabit his hat crawl like a hermit crab inside his smile mimic him as if I were h 'Be the Holy Dublin! ' 'Be the Hokey! '