This is my tribute to Roy Scheider.
In the town of Orange
A child was born
A midnight-eyed boy
His parents cared for him well
Nursed him through illness
When he turned
Midnight eyes to books
Lost in the literary worlds
And when at last
He was well
That child began
To reshape his body
Into lean muscled power
Later he went on
To college
Turning a midnight eye
To drama courses
Then to Oregon
And the Air Force
Flunked out of flight school
Behind those midnight eyes
Lies a dreamer
Not a pilot
Married to a nurse
Two kids in the bargain
And then to New York
Performing on stages
One after another
Left the wife from Oregon
His midnight eye dull
He felt a burden to her
Still acting on every stage he can
Still pursuing his dream
Still hounded by a father
Who fails to appreciate that dream
After rehearsal one night
In a bar he saw
A woman he saw in the theaters
An actress, dark beauty
She was watching him but
Every time he turned a midnight eye to her
She was gazing on her companion
Then he turned in time
To see her dump her friend's beer on his head
He walked over to her
And didn't escape.
Married to her
He fathered a child
A baby girl, a legacy to the world.
Then he made his break
His midnight eyes gleamed
On the silver screen
For all to see
Years of fame followed
Then came the time of sadness
He cheated on his second wife
And she took final offense
And left him
Aging and graying
To marry his mistress
And he did-
Midnight eyes flaring.
He fathered a son
Baby midnight-eyed son
To carry on his father
In name and blood and eye.
The midnight-eyed son of Orange
Lives yet today
Acting on before the movie camera
Gray-haired, handsome as ever
Born to take the stage
His grin will endure in the hearts of his fans
As will the spark in his eye
The spark that will never die
As he goes on in the theater he made his life
Midnight eyes flashing!