A letter from Dennis about Noah

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I got this email from Dennis today. I don’t think it was meant for an actual post, just more so a question I asked him and his response to my question. But it was too good not to share. I also love how he writes in poetry. I learned from Chris this past week in San Fran, that Dennis is a song writer. Which makes sense of why he writes the way he does, everything in lyrics. 

I love how he states, “Noah’s presence is bigger than life.” 

Something I know all too well. 

I’ve always known that Noah’s making a difference on the compounds he’s been on, but hearing Dennis say, after only knowing him now for a few months, “Noah’s name was spoken everywhere. Never without a smile.”

Not that I want Noah behind those walls any longer, but I really hope someone else in there is going to carry on his infectious spirit and optimistic personality to keep the rest of the guys moving forward. 

So here’s Dennis’s email and response to my question, “How do you know Noah and what’s it like to be in prison seven times.” My next question for him that I’m excited to hopefully share soon is, why? 

 

Morgan,

I do not mean to be intrusive
Nor is my intent
to tell a story

This
This is for you

I don’t know you
But
I do know Noah

Who he is
Who he has become
Through you

Noah relayed a question to me

7 times in prison
What was that like

I will save that
A later blog post

Here
I can explore
Something different

How that happens to begin with

Truthfully
I am not always so good
At description

Describing in detail
My thoughts
Emotions
Or actions

I do
However
Seem to have the ability
To recreate this experience

Relating it
Narrating it

I tell another tale

I try
To bring my words
To life

To make them move
Flow
In a particular rhythm

Creating a pulse
Navigating the reader
Stimulating a similar emotion

In this case

It is a simple matter
Of mathematical deduction

To know me
Let me first
Re-introduce
To you
Noah

I heard of Noah
Long before I knew him

His performances
Tactics
Antics
His involvement

Noah’s name
Was spoken everywhere
Never without a smile

I would see him
In passing only
Always busy

No good
Or
So good

Not my business
At the time

As mentioned
When Noah introduced me
To the blog

We met at a talent competition
Over Christmas

What Noah doesn’t know
Nor will he
Until he reads this

My take on this same event

I put on a good show
I was great
But
The deck was stacked against me

Noah was already famous with the crowd

They loved him

I was like a cross over
In the midst of the transition

Like when Taylor Swift switched
From Country to Pop

The crowd liked what they saw
But it was too early to commit

I was the opening act
Not the feature presentation
And that is what they came to see

Enter stage right
Noah
And 2 others

Highly practiced
Choreographed
Explicit
Erotic
Funny

Karaoke
Break dancing
Commentary

Playing to the crowd
Clearly home field advantage

Out of my league
And jealous

Noah won the competition

CHEATER !!!

I was drawn to Noah

I had recently put together
A collection of my writings

I titled them
I am an Addict…my name is Dennis

I believe that Noah sent you a copy

I had stopped him
Asked him
If he would mind
Reading them

Tell me what he thought

He agreed

He brought my stories back
With a suggestion

The organization
On one of the stories
“Use to Live”

A suggestion
Not caught before
By anybody else

A suggestion
I agreed with

Insight

Unusual

Noah told me then
A little about the blog

What he was doing
How you
His sister
Was helping him to do it

That was cool
But
That was the end
For awhile

Since that time
So much has transpired
It cannot all be expressed here

Noah’s presence
Is bigger than life

His journey
From despair
To hope
To confidence
Is an example

For all those
That come after

He has an inner strength
A resolve
To continue
To explore himself

His truths
His findings

Some may call this
Resilience

A capacity
To make himself available
Vulnerable

Easily acknowledging this

Foreseeing the way through
As the way to

Even more recognizable
This willingness to share
His path
His life
With his family
With those around him
With the world

Now
A question to you

Does this sound like anyone else you may know

I lied
At the beginning of this

I lied about
Not telling a story

But it is a story
That must unfold
To be told

A truth that
Must be felt
To be revealed

This story

It is about Noah
It is about me
And
It is about you

7 times in prison
How does that happen

A simple matter of mathematical deduction

Noah minus You = Me

Thank you for your time
Dennis Cockerham

Morgan here. I wanted to note, when I read this email from Dennis I didn’t full understand the equation the ends his email with, “Noah minus You = Me.” Then last week when I was visiting with Chris he said something to me that I’ll never forget. He told me how much of an impact I have had and continue to have in Noah’s life. How much I mean to him and how he is the person that he is because of me. He didn’t go into much more detail than that but I could tell by just the way he was saying it that Noah and him had some deep conversations, in which I was aware, but probably something I’ll never fully understand having never been in the situations they have been. Then when I came back and re-read this letter again once published, it hit me. Dennis is saying without myself in Noah’s life, Noah would be Dennis. Getting out of prison with nowhere to turn and ending right back in again. Such a good reminder for myself to continue to be patient, love and support him. Because that’s all anyone ever needs from others to succeed!