Monday, August 26, 2024

St. Thomas Quaid

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He looks down upon
© Oliverio
the sky and the sea,
the birds and the three
men walking on the beach
 
He makes the clouds dance
the wall bleeds cement
and he knows 
when you are surfing
 
 
The verse above
is merely poetic praise
for a person whose generosity
and kindness defied 
human capacity
 
In seventy five years,
I have encountered countless
people who believed strongly
and sincerely in generosity
unless it was  a bad day 
when they are more likely 
to bite people
than to help them
 
But Tom Quaid never had such days
 
To qualify someone for Sainthood,
there must be evidence of a miracle
 
Seven days a week,
he went to church
 
Six days a week, Tom Quaid
carried a big fat wad of bills
in his pocket

But not on Sunday
because that is when countless Catholics
would have sucked dim dry
 
Tom Quaid was better known
and better loved than all the Priests
at St. Anthony RC Church in Long Beach
 
On Sundays, Tom was a Eucharistic Minister
meaning he administered the holy wafers
that are a symbol of the Lord's suffering
  
Here is the miracle:
A man known to have as much as $700 cash
in his pocket was never mugged, molested,
or stripped of his cash in a crime-ridden neighborhood
such as Downtown Long Beach

Gangsters of every race, color, and creed
ALL protected Tom Quaid from harm
in the fifteen years that I knew him
as a fellow volunteer in the Senior Center Library
 
Sounds like a miracle to me
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