I've come here to say what I need to say

I've come here to say what I need to say,
I've trudged through the cold morning winter white,
My friend of forty years has passed away.

Country folk somberly built a display,
Memorial flowers rest in plain sight,
I've come here to say what I need to say.

I stand here numb, with my humble bouquet,
Remembering the things he believed right,
My friend of forty years has passed away.

The neighborhood mourns in colorless gray,
The wind by the road has an icy bite,
I've come here to say what I need to say.

There's one less living in our town today,
A good man has left us, gone into the light,
My friend of forty years has passed away.

He's happier now in heaven I pray,
Bowed head, closed eyes, his memory bright,
I've come here to say what I need to say,
My friend of forty years has passed away.

In memory of Lemuel V. Stinson July 19, 1955 - January 16, 2015

Villanelle; Consists of nineteen lines and is comprised of two rhymes. The first and third lines of the first verse become the alternating final lines of the next four verses. In the last stanza, they form a couplet and become the "Closure". Finally, all the 2nd lines of each stanza rhyme with each other.

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