Poet Laureate’s Ode to City Council

Lakewood resident Bill Knittel was .

To thank city council for the reappointment, he stopped by to deliver a message of gratitude.

We thought we’d share it with you:

Many More Years

Again I want to thank you,

For this honor you bestow,

And just for the title,

See, this keeps me on the go;

It’s given my life a purpose,

It gets me going every day,

To appreciate and give thanks,

For the words I write and what they say;

I thank the good Lord every night,

And every morning too,

For this special gift He’s given me,

And all these words I share with you;

I never dreamed when I went to St. Edwards,

That someday I’d up living here,

In fact, my first poem ever published,

Was at St. Eds in my senior year;

When I retired I moved to Lakewood,

That was ten lucky years ago,

In that time I’ve learned to embrace it,

Mostly because of the people I know;

What I’m trying to say is quite simple,

Believe me there’s no other way,

Cause every day in this city’s a blessing,

And you fine people are the reason I stay;

So again, thank you for the honor,

And know that my hearts’ filled with cheers,

I’ll try to make each poem get better,

And I hope it’s for many more years.

Sincerely, Bill Knittel

Lakewood Poet Laureate

PS: Nickie Antonio, Mary Louise Madigan, Mayor Summers and all of you on city council, I have just two more words for you: You Rock. 

PSS: And so do I.