We knew him as Rohan or Tilal56, but Eugene Champagne was a lovely man by any name. He was a part of our lives and we are all poorer by his absence. Rest in peace, dear friend.
For Gene
I knew a man of knowledge
Who lived with shadows
His heart was full of love
I came to walk his way
I knew a man of knowledge
Who lived with shadows
I could not see his shadows
They were his alone
So lived the man of knowledge
Life clouded by his shadows
Others kept their distance
And so they missed his soul
The man of knowledge knew
That others thought him different
Still he reached out to the lonely
Still he comforted the sad.
For the man of knowledge cared
About other people’s pain
And he loved to share their triumphs
And they would hear of his
Sometimes the shadows ruled him
And cared not for his knowledge
They tore him from his people
And ripped apart his world
Yet still the man of knowledge
Returned from the land of shadows
With joy to be alive
He reveled in his days.
I miss the man of knowledge
The man who lived with shadows
He touched our lives too briefly
I was proud to call him friend.
— B.R. 3/11/2002