Arrivederc’ Ilona
From the Biblioteca
I come not to fake it
but to make it fully known
in ebullient dulcet tones
that Ilona has shown a way
in the BY Zone
to hone a fine career
as an epic-authentic-energetic academic -
we could call her a scholar
or a teacher of minds and tongues,
an audio-ocular installer
to animate, evaluate, validate Italianate tongues,
reachin’ out with features and procedures
to the kinds of creatures
with minds that are young.
It’s easy and it’s seemly
from the edifice of libri
that I turn my face to greet thee, Ms. Klein.
The stars have aligned as a sign
that it’s time to decline
any more instructional design:
high time to redefine genuine refinement
of your functional life line.
It has been my pleasure,
dear Professor, to endeavor together
to untether any clever measures
wherever the treasures of wisdom
that have risen to your vision
in any database could be faced
in case the research investigative space
might cater to your case,
and you could terminate the chase
at a graceful pace.
May a core of enormously good fortune come your way evermore,
say we who were formerly known informally as Mormons,
but wow, here and now, anyhow,
to thee and thou, gute Frau,
let’s just say… Ciao.
- Richard Hacken, 2019