All the Love You Will Ever Need

A self-portrait by David Lobo, 1961-2021

A tribute by Vikram Bhaskaran to one of the most precious souls to grace the world

Oh bright spark, your paint brush touches 

the sky and illuminates it with 

joy and mirth

Oh bright man, your light is ensconced here

in our hearts, in the laughter of heavens.

When we go about our days, we will hold you.

Near. There is David in the small things.

Oh David, the dark night of your soul

the pain you must have felt alone on a bed

-- no pain is greater than this.

I see you singing and giving me money

to buy candy in a seaside english town.

I see your big heart broken but always giving.

What little joy there is, springs forth from you

and it Multiplies.

I see the wind holding us, a moment imbued with more love

than any love on this earth. 

I see you leave Bangalore. Friends and family circle you.

The earth is parched and we will never know 

what rain, what torrent, what maelstrom will fill

your days.

But I know in in that tender moment,

you have left.

And you go into the blue yonder, the dark dark seas

of immigrant life so full of magic and strife.

You left us long ago.

In this new place, you will be nourished and 

finally held.

The last embrace is an eternal one

And this unity with the divine

is all the love you will ever need.