to know a person

i've never done (composed sketched painted) a portrait

never sat to sum up with description or pencil line
the contours and character of an actual human being
one who is alive
that is
(even my effort to portray br urban as a saint was not too
vivid-- rather rather rather dull actually)

so i present myself this morning with a challenge

what i shall describe is a ritualized drama
one that is enacted almost every morning
in the coffee room of the monastery

his names are somewhat various

i won't bother with the broad extent
of personal titles which he's used over the decades
hippolytus comes to mind as one bygone epithet

each morning between 8:30 and 10
henry bryan hayes sets about to make coffee
in a most particular way
his rubrics are insidious but necessary
he conducts this highly choreographed routine
from the comfort of an oversize wheelchair
one that he has purportedly stolen from
the one we call alexander the great
this seems like an unimportant detail
but he must move that oversize wheelchair
through a fairly constricted human space and for certain moments
in the choreographed routine bryan's presence completely dominates
the available working human social space
everything is held in a state
of momentary suspension until the task at hand
be it water or towel or knife or butter or backing up
to his selfproclaimed spot of supremecy -
is completed

this is a man whose knowledge of poetry novels
history operas countless musical scores
legendary football games live performances
and odd people down through the years
is surpassed by no one in our entire environs

there must be three bags of coffee-machine coffee
not 2 not 4 but 3 bags
the water must be as cold as you can get it
and it is as near to perfect coffee as can be had
in the cloistered halls

if by chance you happen to be privy to
this astounding daily event
you may enter into conversation with bryan as we call him
on topics ranging from football
to french literary advances in the past
opera
[ "his own compositions" ] is often a favorite and
i dare say unabashed topic of conversation
for this man who has constructed a veritable ballet
around the preparation and drinking of coffee
is
a composer
his abilities and his output rank him
amongst the greatest of all time
yet his work will be relegated to the archives
where it will gather dust
every year one more layer of dust
over the forgotten musical accomplishments
of henry bryan hayes

his expressions are enlightened with ease and freedom
i dare say
no topic
no matter how bawdy would disturb his soul
he's given to youthful sardonic laughter
quite often
no stranger he to the absurdity inherent in
making ones' way

i don't recall if bryan has had both hips replaced
but he is not able to walk he can only shuffle
and he is a large man
he stood a full 6 ft 6 in his prime

from the south
tennessee
raised on the sounds of seasons and radio
and old time church music

his face is full of character
at 90 years old he is a regular walking
or rolling picture of the full range of human emotion

motivated he is
by a seemingly indominable will to live
and fend for himself

daily he puts himelf in the most
well -dressed state
collections of full cotton button down
well pressed shirts from LL Bean and
like places
his pants as well are never ragged ragtag

bryan has written operas
orchestral music
string arrangements
numerous collections of song cycles
keyboard sonatas organ arrangements
acappella choir arrangements
full band orchestrations
works for solo instruments

so we let this lumbering giant wheel about
in his oversize wheelchair
and get his coffee just right and expend any sort of emotion
he must in getting there

sometimes you'll find him conducting a treatment
he gives himself
he takes a towel and wettens it
then puts it in the microwave till it's good and hot
then he pastes the blue towel onto his eyes
to relieve whatever pain is there
all the while attending to his well made ecoffee

there should be a name for such acts
a genre
i am moved to write music
to the scene enacted every day
in the monks' coffee room
at st john's abbey

bryan's eyes are the brightest blue/grey
his skull is very the shape of an egg
his ears are large and he wears spectacles
his hands are adorned with the most long
and elegant fingers
his english is as proper as can be
and he lives in a state where he doesn't care a wit
for what anyone might think or say about him
his temperament is generally jolly
but he has days when it appears he is putting up
with the rest of us only out of necessity
certainly not out of desire

daily he wheels himself out to the student dining room
and has extensive luncheon conversations
with a whole array of young men
he is rather fond of young men
young healthy athletic men

being of the late age 90
bryan we grant
i think we are free
to grant him the odd indulgence

as long as he continues to be so well -dressed

perhaps this is as well as i can do in describing
henry bryan hayes

from this information you should be able to
draw or paint your own portrait of him
and though it may look a caricature
it would somewhat resemble the person
i know