Melvin Drakeford

One, Two, Three a Poem for Wendell James Lea

                              By

                    Melvin L. Drakeford

Let us collectively think one last time

About the man women used to call fine,

He was quiet, smooth and very handsome

For him some women would pay a ransom,

He would dance and sing better than us all

But it was the Avons who gave him his call,

For the Avons he sang for many years

Singing Doo Wop and moving teens to tears,

Thinking of Wendell and our great memories of him

Without his light the world is dim,

So the world would be a much better place to see

If in life there were more like our brother Wendell James Lea.

Thornton Cherot

from Tony Cherot

The Avons of Englewood

Wendell starts with the piano

The brothers start in singing ‘Baby”

Simple harmony, get the guys together and harmonize

We ain’t the Mills brothers

We sing of love, of heartbreak or of joy

That falsetto carrying the lyrics

The Curtis goes doo wah

Then it is “Our Love Will Never End”

Just a practice session in our living room

They tell me they named the group after my sister Yvonne or maybe a river in England

Yes, Englewood, we were there when R &B gave birth to Rock and Roll

Melvin Drakeford

On Wednesday (9/9/15) the community of Englewood joined together in large numbers to show its love for departed legend, Frankie Taylor. Frankie as a junior started on our 1958 champion basketball team.

FRANKIE WILL BE REMEMBERED

BY

MELVIN  L. DRAKEFORD

Frankie Taylor meant a lot to many of us

In sports, a player we could always trust,

In life, he would talk with great reasoning

Whether dancing, telling jokes or just teasing,

He was knowledgeable about life lessons

That came out usually in bull sessions,

Family and friends for a longtime will grieve

He suffered a great deal now maybe he is relieved,

Frankie we will miss you your personality was sound

You were a great friend we loved having you around,

So with these few words we want you to know

That the community loves you and that will always be so,

No matter the circumstances in this complex world

You will always be remembered as Frankie and Pearl,

You lived a full life bursting with fun

Bye, Bye little big man and thanks for the run.

Melvin Drakeford

What makes life worthwhile? A poem about my friend Danny Brovero

By

Melvin L. Drakeford

Life is different for each of us

Some have it good and some have it rough,

Think about the people that you know

Did they develop or did they fail to grow?

Those who are close to you, some are kind

Some others that you know aren’t worth a dime,

Think about all the good ones living among us

What did they do to earn our trust?

Take a moment to think who your true friends are

You will find some friends who stand out by far,

I am thinking of a special friend I have known for sixty years or so

Knew him from high school in a school called Dwight Morrow,

We played football together and were treated like heroes

I remember football announcers saying, “tackle by Danny Brovero,”

Danny Brovero was a true Raider who was small in stature

But he signified Courage, Determination, Intelligence and Character,

He lived and played by the Raider Motto: “It is not the size of the

Dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog,”

Danny was my good friend and I know I speak for many who appreciated his style

Thank you Danny, for all that you have done friends like you make life worthwhile.