Koo-Keey, Brother

I still half expect to hear you
Coming through the trees,
Like you’re just a little ways off,
Laughing in the breeze.
And then that old call rolling,
Like it always used to do,
“Koo-keey!” through the morning woods—
Man, I still look up for you.

You were made for water and weather,
Boots and bikes and broken trails,
For boats that barely held together,
For stories no one else would tell.
You could take a hard day’s trouble
And cut right through somehow,
Like there was always one clear answer,
And you knew it in the moment.

Koo-keey, my brother,
I still hear you call.
“I’m here! Where are you?
Let’s go!” through it all.
And though I can’t call back
The way I used to do,
I still answer in my heart—
“I’m here too.”

We were dumb enough for anything,
Young enough to try,
Taking off for one more back road,
One more river, one more climb.
You could make a whole day bigger,
Make the ordinary shine,
Turn a friendship into family,
And somehow make your people mine.

You gave your whole heart to living,
To your boys, your kin, your crew,
To the woods, the waves, the work itself,
To whatever called you through.
And what stays with me is simple:
You were funny, fierce, and kind,
The kind of man who leaves his goodness
In the bones of those behind.

Koo-keey, my brother,
I still hear you call.
“I’m here! Where are you?
Let’s go!” through it all.
And though I can’t call back
The way I used to do,
I still answer in my heart—
“I’m here too.”

Maybe you’re just past the ridgeline,
Somewhere I can’t see,
Still the first one up ahead there,
Still waiting on the rest of me.
Maybe love works just like that now—
Not gone, just farther through,
Still a voice out in the distance,
Still me trying to get to you.

So I’ll look for you in Orion,
In the snow hush on the pines,
In the sun off morning water,
In the old trails in my mind.
And if I’m out there by myself
And the wind comes moving through,
I’ll stop and smile and say it back—
“Yeah, Kels… I hear you.”

Koo-keey, my brother,
I still hear you call.
“I’m here! Where are you?
Let’s go!” through it all.
This world feels less without you,
That much is plain and true,
But wherever that call is rising,
I’m still coming too.

Koo-keey…
I’m here.
Where are you?
Let’s go.