I continue my search for a living kidney donor. If you are inclined to be a donor for me, please email me and/or call the RI Hospital Kidney Transplant Center at 401-440-8562. My poem, Elegy for My Brother in memory of my brother is recently published in Paterson Literary Review, Issue 51, 2023, p. 150. My brother Ted lived well the Gospel story of sharing his talents. He brought both joy and sometimes much needed relief to persons in need. This is my tribute to him:
Elegy for My Brother
im Ted Foley 1939 to 2012
You joke when you call pretending
you need help—a bird on your head
you can’t get rid of, and I laugh.
When you ask how I’m doing
I tell you about the soup I’m making:
roasted red pepper and sweet potato
You pry a little more, I heard
you’re having some money troubles.
So I let you know and you pay
my rent for a year. You teach me
how to study my accounts
without making me feel small.
You say, I can count
but you can write.
I remember
when the six of us were kids
our living room had only five seats.
More than once you gave up your chair for me.
I reach for the expensive
cobalt loafers that I wore that last
Thanksgiving when the six of us were seated
at your hearth. I hear
the male cardinal sing his daily anthem.
Is that you?
