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Like Voices Rising
When the poet dies
his grandchildren may
only know him from
memory
someone who used to
hug them
someone who used to
tickle them
and give them fresh
dollar bills on
their birthdays
someone to tell them
what his youth was like
when he lived it
Will they read his
stories and poems
his published works
now relegated to a
box languishing
somewhere in the heat
and dust of a storage
space
stuff in a box marked
MISCELLANEOUS
a carton among many
cartons right behind
a dozen hefty bags
pregnant with forms,
statements, bills, things
he never quite
got around to
shredding?
Maybe he should have
composed an opera
with the singers'
voices rising like
beautiful pink angels
in a heavenly choir,
a celebration where
the audience would stand up
and shout "BRAVO!" -
a sound so triumphant
so unique
even the gods
would bow
in reverence
Vernon Waring is a four-time winner of international poetry competitions sponsored by Tom Howard Books; three of the winning poems - "the death of memory," "juror number twelve," and "Not A Poem" - originally appeared in Ascent Aspirations Magazine. His work has also been featured in Nerve Cowboy, First Literary Review - East, WestWard Quarterly, and The Great American Poetry Show. Mr. Waring's short fiction has been singled out for commendation in the Glimmer Train, New Millennium Writings Awards, and Soul-Making Literary Competitions. He lives in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Email: Vernon Waring
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