Eulogy for Chris Performed by an Ode to the Guy from Carnivàle

I just wrote the first draft of a poem. Now I'm ahead of schedule.
This is my friend Chris Hamm:

We are at his apartment in Ann Arbor, where I remember apartment complexes being pretty nice. My friend Marie and I spent many an hour hanging out with this guy, watching TV and drinking and laughing. In particular, we actually watched the series Carnivale on HBO, which Hammy took illegally from the complex box. Hammy was hilarious. And a dear friend. And a free spirit. He had his faults as do we all, but it's a true friend who lets you see who they really are. I think he would have taken a bullet for us. He passed away this summer of cancer, after

Marie's sister Rachel and before my mom. His death is sandwiched into a time in which I feel my memories outweighing my future. 

Below is the first stanza of a poem that has been drastically evolved from something that exists in an earlier post. A poem dedicated to Nick Stahl, who played Ben Hawkins on Carnivale. My memories of Hamm are forever tied to that actor and that show.

Rest in peace Hammy. I miss you.

Eulogy for Chris Performed by an Ode to the Guy from Carnivàle

b

orn in a baggage trailer torn through with

 dust chalked as a horned lizard but slick as

a skink cacti wrapped in fiberglass faced

turning up from the depths of a nineties

television after five it is safe 

to steal the cable...