The Poetry of David Fraser

The Poetry of David Fraser

In Memoriam - Haiku

#1

Black wings cross the sun

The dark smoke crawls across my

Solitary grave.

#2

In the spring the lambs kick

Up their furry heels with joy

But the knife is near.

#3

At the impact point

You're gone, rising up to meet

Sunshine on your wings.

In Memoriam #1

Superimposed Thoughts

The woods are silent, dark and deep. That's Frost for you. I've left the keys in the mailbox, the wallet on the dresser, the pass card by the phone. The papers will pile up, I know. The snow is cold and deep. The tangles of the vines grab at me, as if they persuade me from my task. I'll lie here beside the waterfall, curled up like a foetus, letting the snow melt on my cheek, then freeze again as I cool. There is a peaceful silence here in lying down. At home the papers piling up, here the snow covering my face. They'll find me in the spring long after all their fears for me have gradually been realized.

In Memorial #2

There is a hole black and deep

Below the bridge

To leap through by

A bruised butterfly, flutter of wings

Wet with weary thoughts.

His dark shape in leather

Black as night, as cold as stars

Falls, a stone of flesh and bone

That once cracked smiles and laughed;

His strong once shoulders touched,

His mind so tense in now

Drops like a fragment of a curtain

Furled with failing wings.

The bridge an aching memory,

And now the ground approaches fast

And swallows up his soul.

In Memoriam #3

I remember; it is

A bitter piece of agony

Like hammered bone,

Fragments shattered.

I remember tracks followed

On crisp snow,

The arc of your skis

Tearing up the mountain,

Rending powder

Into a still blemished symmetry.

I remember tiny shards of time

Spent on many mountains,

Postcards sent and saved,

Parts of you

Silently held close to my heart,

I remember and weep the anger

Of your leaving

A stone dropping into dust.

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