One Last Gate to Pay

(posted for Thombstone/Stone Bone)

Hey lady Ink-

I will pass on to you a eulogy/poem that I wrote and was published in the De Soto Gab(cab newspaper) and on the editorial page, of The SF Examiner. A buddy of mine, went down to Mexico to die. He was an old cab driver, I used to give his daughter rides and wanted to convey to her my feeling's, with something other than a drug store card.
I framed the following words under glass and left it on her door step.

---------One Last Gate To Pay--------

The world has long forgotten his many acts of kindness, as he moved along the public way......

He was the gray-haired ancient coachman whose life was measured out by the countless metered
rides in the myriad streets beyond his home........

I likened his role to the gears of a clock like world, to which he provided movement........

To him the great affair was to move his passengers from points of pick up to destinations, while
giving them friendly counsel along the way..........

Drifting off and half asleep one night.........to my ear from far away.....I saw him smile and heard
him say....."just one last gate to pay".........

South of the border a wave crashed ashore and returned to a silent sea............

By Tombstone Johnstone
For Pierre Spencer