For Bill

As I read these posts, I am moved by how others were also touched by the phrase taken by angels.

Taken by angels is a nice way of saying
that it seemed unusually severe and perverse
to stop a man in a race at the 24th mile.

The chairs in the café are still as we left them.
I can replay each word of our sidewalk stop and chat.
You left us with one too many mysteries.

That morning, as you got ready in the dark,
what milestone did you think you were about to reach?
Most peoples’ days hadn’t started by the time your heart stopped.
To be taken in such a perverse way.
And yet the idea of angels.

- Indu Subaiya

Crossing paths with Bill

I worked very briefly as a freelance copyeditor at Wired way back in 1997. Bill was the only one there who took the time to talk to me about anything other than work. I ran into him about a year and a half ago, and he remembered me before I said a word to him. He had a rare ability and willingness to connect to others.

-Anonymous