Spark of Madness
How on Earth is it possible
That a man as uproariously hilarious as you
Could have carried such sorrow deep inside?
I can remember a thousand and one nights
When you brought a smile to my six-year-old cheeks,
Shooting jokes at a rate of perhaps sixty-a-minute
With a tongue that must have been touched by
None other than Thalia herself.
Did the emptiness you felt inside drive you
To try to banish such negative emotions
From the lives of those you told your jokes to?
If so, thank you for making the world
Shine a little brighter when the spark of madness
That was your talent burned at its brightest.
Maybe your example can teach us all to burn a little brighter now.
This poem is a very personal one for me, as it was composed to memorialize a man I consider a childhood idol: Robin Williams.
His was one of the few celebrity deaths that impacted me deeply (Steve Irwin was the other big one). Hell, even almost a decade later, I can still feel a lump welling up in my throat as I write this. The title references one of his most famous quotes: "You're only given a little spark of madness, and if you lose that, you're nothing."
Can you spot the Aladdin reference?
