Busker.

A Eulogy.

How surreal it is:
My life packed in boxes
on my bedroom floor.
How I long to have his courage
and throw them all in a river somewhere.
If I had heard your music,
I would have thrown my last
dollar in your case,
But someone stole your guitar
down in New Orleans
before I met you,
or so you said.

It's hard to believe
that someone whose words
still dance in my head is dead.

You were so wise,
so dear to my heart.
I turned to you,
You came to me at a time
when I needed you most,
Speaking of life and death
and freedom and love.

I wrote my best for you.
I wish I had flown away with you,
to that commune in Tennessee,
with your broken tooth and my guitar.
You might have lived, love,
if I had given you hope;
If I had given you dark nights,
drinking wine,
lying naked on the floor,
writing poetry with purple curtains
whispering wishes in the wind.

Your death has brought me that dream,
You speak to me softly in my sleep.
You have given me regret,
but with that has come acceptance,
the hope of freedom,
and the joy of finding
my other half,
if but for a moment in time.

Reviews

[John Morris]

'But someone stole your guitar
down in New Orleans
before I met you,
or so you said.'

These words cut into me especially ' down in New Orleans', The lines changed the entire poem making me piece together the parts.

Did you write this as an elegly for the dead? Maybe innocents killed or just in New Orleans?

[DavidRyan]

Beautiful. Sexy. Well written. I loved this a lot. So sad, but hopeful and real and uplifting at the same time.

[R J Askew]

Great stuff...I am a Brit reading in London...so this was like a little mental trip to the US...I have never been to New Orleans or Tennessee...but my mind goes there through your poetry. I have never owned a guitar either, but again, your words teach me the importance of something that is more than just a box with strings. Also you never know what you are going to get when you open up a poem. I can see the boxes and the river. I instantly thought, yep, I wish I cld throw my stuff in a river...and we are not just talking material possessions. There then unfolds a very moving story of inspiration, loss and sadness. And there are more great images at the end. The poem read like watching a charming dance.

[Exquisite*]

Wow. So sad. Death of someone you care for is awful . It is a lovely poem though, and I really love it.

[DiggeyEleven]

The sadness in your heart resonates through this poem.
"You might have lived, love,
if I had given you hope;
If I had given you dark nights,
drinking wine,
lying naked on the floor,
writing poetry with puple curtains
whispering wishes in the wind."

Beautiful passage, " our death has brought me that dream,
You speak to me softly in my sleep", It is believed that that is a way for a loved one whose passed on to communicate with the ones they've left behind. Very emotional and while not be confined by the typical rules of poem standards. Good read!

[Lori]

Very beautiful and tender, with a rare honesty that really resonates. I like how you the poem travels in the mind, but the real action is in the heart. The way this person has become a part of your life.

[Bennett Logan]

Very nostalgic and moody; I like it! Your imagery is ghost-like, and it makes me feel the narrator's longing for what never was, what could have been, and what truly is.

I absolutely LOVED the lines:

You might have lived, love,
if I had given you hope;
If I had given you dark nights,
drinking wine,
lying naked on the floor,
writing poetry with puple curtains
whispering wishes in the wind.

Just a few short lines put an extremely vivid and profound thought/image in my mind. At this moment, I would only suggest taking out the last line. "...the joy of finding/my other half,/if but for a moment in time." is a perfect way to end this poem, as it serves as an open kind of resolution.