April 12 - Tiny Tim (The Musical Birthday Series)

Tiny Tim (12 April 1932 – 30 November 1996) was one of the most improbable novelty acts to attain international attention with his cultivated eccentricity and highly unusual vocal stylings.  He is, in fact, buried in my hometown of Minneapolis.  My little poem began as a pure spoof but became a sentimental elegy of its own accord. The lake mentioned is real, and is near his resting place, but has been recently renamed Bde Maka Ska, which doesn't fit my rhyme scheme, so I have used the name as it was when Tiny Tim was buried.

April Elegy for a Tiptoeing Pierrot

The resting place of Tiny Tim

Is several miles away

From where I write this verse to him

On this his natal day.

A lasting presence on the scene

With his falsetto tones;

Laugh-In brought him to our screen,

YouTube to our phones.

The tulips which he tiptoed through

Are still beneath the ground

In April, not responding to

His high soprano sound.

The ukulele that he played

Is now forever still

For Tiny Tim is softly laid

Beside a Lakewood hill.

And when the Minnesota moon

Shines softly where he lies,

His voice is heard o’er Lake Calhoun —

And lovers wipe their eyes.