A Poem for Noah Tao
I’m wearing my Lucky 13 shirt
with the legendary logo
of that ornery cat
But this time the cat’s face
is half covered with a bandana
that says 2020 on it
like it’s warning you to stay away
Noah made sure I got this shirt
because he knew how much I loved that bar
and he knew it was going away
but more importantly because he was my friend
That’s who he was
If you were his homie, he was
on your team
which meant you were in
his heart
which meant you were
someone he loved
which meant he would
think of you in those unexpected moments and reach out to say
“I got you” in a million different ways
Noah was the first person to tell me
“Loud Pipes Save Lives”
and in a way that sums him perfectly
too nice to be a biker
too biker to be that nice
A habitual button pusher
line stepper
shit talker
ball buster
mirth making
rat bastard sonofabitch who
lit up every fucking room he was in
even if he was burning it down
I loved that man and
this world is worse
without him in it
Unfortunately, loud pipes aren’t enough
to save everyone’s life
but I have a feeling they will be the music
that brings our boy Noah home
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10 Comments
thank you Stuart for this beautifully accurate low-down on the man, the legend and my friend Noah. i’m printing this out and framing it next to a picture of him next to a bike he nicknamed “arley davidso” in the garage.
I’m really gonna miss him.
never got to meet him formally. but he made a very close friend of mine feel a love that i am so happy they got to experience and can carry with them. anyone who makes someone feel like that is one of the best people i never had the pleasure of knowing. rest easy noah.
Yeah, he was a great dude.
Well said
Thank you.
You really hit the nail on the Noah here. Thank you so much for writing and sharing. I’m really gonna miss him.
Me too. 🙁
Thanks Stuart, Noah was such a kind a caring person, who’d somehow manage to bust your balls all in the same sentence. Well said sir.
That’s why we love him.