Have You Heard?

It is a flippant remark --
here today, gone tomorrow,
but he truly was here today
and today is the day that
the man who had the
international ear attuned to
his opinion, that of a man 
steeped in the wisdom of
experience, is now also as
of this day, departed. It was
he who called the emergency
line, the very man whom 
prime ministers, aristocrats
of commerce and the wealthy
powerful called, to solicit his
expert advice. Now, he called
emergency health experts to
come, please, to his aid,
telling them "a 64-year-old
male is feeling very unwell".
They responded, sirens wailing,
speedily transiting from there
to here, too late to comfort
much less save this distinguished
man's time-expired life.