Eulogy for Vincenzo Ricardo

A man dies alone....in 2006, just discovered in 2007

Vincenzo Ricardo lived all alone
Diabetic, and blind—left all on his own.

For a year, no one saw him-
For a year no one cared
So a man sat dead,
while his TV blared.
Electric unpaid,
but the lights were still on-
Yet Vinnie Ricardo
was long, long gone.
The mail piled up-
No one saw him go out-
Tho’ they were used to seeing him
Wandering about.
As the tree in the forest fell
With no one to hear…
So Vinnie sat dead
For over a year.
Out of sight, out of mind,
As the days moved forward
Just a crabby old man
Whom the neighbors ignored.
But they all knew he needed
Help reading his mail
And for trips to the bank
In this Long Island dale.
He was just an old man
Who needed a friend,
No one deserves
This lonely an end.

They all were aware--
But they just didn’t care.