Komei Uyeyama 1Jan 1929 - 28 Nov 2011

Elegy for an Artist

Boys to men,
And life to dust,
Sun to moon,
And tears to rust.

Scratched my name,
On window dust,
This is my brain,
Filled up with musk.

Bend your head to bygone years
And the life we have innate
Of earth and sex and midnight tears
And bread and wine til we culminate.

Find me young, find me alive,
Paint a colour-burst and ask,
“Where is the world-stained life
I've built up out of canvas?

What sound does the rain make,
When it's inside a heart,
When a fire is too tired
To burn the ash apart.”

So, I say this unsaid,
See you soon and all the best,
Though much left unmet,
And left unconfessed.

Your heart and mind,
Fueled your worldliness,
And something more sublime,
Filled in all the rest. - Alex Raynor

Komei has gone to that great big painterly place in the sky, so the next time you see a rainbow, think of him making some broad brush strokes. He is once again with Machan and Pachan and Kitty and those others whom he held dear. Instilled with some attributes of Bushido, he experienced the Great Depression and a sharecropper's childhood. Komei lived a life of quiet endurance and stoicism, with flashes of highlights which reflected his potential which he was unable to bring to fruition. He leaves behind his sister Su Riskie, his brother Wally (Donna), his nieces Lianne Raynor (Kurt), Troy Teshirogi (Yukiya), great-nephews Graham, Alex, Takayuki, and great-niece Sachiko. Deeply appreciated are the valiant efforts of the CTU Blue teams. Thank you. Komei has requested cremation and no service. In lieu of koden, if you so wish, please donate to the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation Kamloops, or the Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster, or the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

A light flicker'd bright, illumin'd the great surround, then dimmed and was gone