Manny

My first memory of Uncle Manny,
comes from years ago,
he talked to me of philosophy,
at the time I was age six,
and he answered, patient as a saint,
'til at last I understood.

Now Manny is not the kind of man
who can simply listen to words,
he looks at every idea as a universe to explore,
and he'd find his way through to its every corner
With Manny, I'd be careful what I'd say,
each conversation so precious,
and we'd have but a few days.

Through this he taught me much
of goodness and honor,
he simply talked of them
and lived them around me,
a teacher who taught by example,
with his words teaching the words,
and his life teaching the life

Manny taught me of the mensch,
Of his actions and his blessings,
Then one day we had an argument,
for he would call it a Mensch,
and I'd just call it a Manny.

My Uncle Manny is an icon of the honest,
he doesn't tell a lie, but it is more than that,
Manny always tells all the truth,
With Manny there is no question,
of whether what he says is honest,
the truth is Manny's only language

Manny is a loving man,
especially to his wife and three children,
Always with a smile or an ear for all,
his sympathy matched only by his care.

Manny seems to believe in his God,
and that is good enough for him,
he will listen to your ideas and credit
you for them, if you say otherwise,
and I think if he felt convinced
he would say it, and through it all
Manny just loves and laughs,
and I feel myself getting convinced.

Yes through it all Manny laughs away,
in the way only he can laugh,
his laugh isn't a reaction to joy,
like most people's are,
Manny's laugh is joy,
for him and all that hear it.

Manny is many things,
but you wouldn't know if you'd asked him,
When I see these things in him
they seem as suffused through him as air,
And anybody who knows the half of him,
can hardly help but stare,
and wonder how with all that honor and goodness
he appears to be under ten feet tall