Unique Experiences

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I am Poet Laureate of UMass/Boston -- of Annisquam -- and of my family and friends.

Also do poems "for hire" -- as, for example, this poem written for Ron Shaikh's "retirement" from being the CEO of Panera Bread. I do, in addition to (many!) retirements - weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, bar and bat mitzvahs, reunions, and etc. I get "the good stuff" from family and friends (in person or phone or email) -- 
 
TIME TO RETIRE? FOR THE BELL TO TOLL ON RON? 
NO, IT’S “SHAIKH, RATTLE, AND ROLL!”

For me, the most important requirement
Is that from the outset I make clear
That the whole concept of “retirement”
In this case will need to be “set on its ear”!
In the service of which, I, Sue Morelli,
Declare – for all to hear! – there’s no way
That the fire burning in Ron Shaikh’s belly
Will ever, ever, just go away!

For the oven, hot right from the beginning,
Had already filled “The Cookie Jar”
For Joe and Pearl, and they were pinning
Even loftier hopes on Ron, whose star
Rose high in ’81, when at Faneuil
Hall he teamed up with Louis Kane,
And they created Au Bon Pain! You all
Know what that meant: great baguettes
And croissants, everything “c’est si bon,”
With a “chic café” ambience that lets
You into the seventh “arrondissement”!

O, memories of those days remain
For Ron some of his verimost fond!
Yet the Shaikh vision was so enormous
That he was already looking beyond
For an opportunity to form as
His very own company one to renew his
Vision on even a larger scale:
And there was this bakery out in St. Louis,
And thus begins, as we know, a tale
Of truly extraordinary growth.
And though through the spin-of of Panera,
He continued to keep a connection to both,
It soon became clear that a whole new era
Was dawning, marked also by his marriage
To Nancy in 1998!
And not for a moment to disparage
The success Au Bon Pain had “out of the gate” --
With Louis “the class” and Ron “the crass,”
Making of this “family affair” a
Quick-service model! -- what then came to pass
When Ron “got cooking” with Panera,
Was so huge that even “hadja” been able
To dream of so exponential a leap,
It still is unimagin-able
That any stock could make so steep
A climb – that fourteen-hundred stores
Could possibly in such a short period
Open their “cozy, affordable” doors
To offer customers such a myriad
Of soups and sandwiches and et cetera
To the point that -- and many would agree! --
In the fast food pantheon there’s no better a
Restaurant chain, nor ever will be.

Yet, I suspect, there’s a point when
For Nancy and Ron a concern looms --
With Michael at five and Emma at ten --
That before Ron’s “overdrive” resumes,
It may, for a time, be well to give place,
In the wake of Panera’s breathtaking ascension,
To some stock-taking, some “breathing space” --
Thus to savor the breadth of this new dimension
Of limitless opportunity,
To pause to enjoy it and to reflect,
In the context of immunity
From financial concern, on how best to connect
To the deep-down core of values that drives
Him today, as it always has, always will –
Which is “Making a difference in people’s lives.”
So we know darn well he’ll not long stay still,
And that soon enough – I’m anticipating
A week or two! – he’ll be launching upon
Yet another venture demonstrating
That his “first love” -- for serving people -- lives on!


                    Duncan Nelson

One page poem.

You let me know what the occasion is & I will write a poem!

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