A Tribute Audio Poem
This is how I will remember you:
silly, silly boy
chasing tail
laughing mouth, eyes full
of summer.
the girl you caught,
you gave your child —
left your name
and nothing else.
how can death take you so soon?
the mystery. the madness.
the way you are now a
Facebook memory
for those still scrolling through
lost days they will never get back.
This is how I will remember you:
giddy, quick hands
storming legs, breaking through
a crowd, lips coated in
bubblegum cigarette powder,
begging for a kiss.
you never uttered a mean
word to me, only those of love
and I brushed you off because
we were kids and running
around a field or in a hot
gym or lifting weights occupied
my time.
you persisted and I said “Yes!”
the messages flood my phone,
and I want to stop the
influx of sad faces and weeping words —
I want your death to disappear,
but the Reaper works overtime.
This is how I will remember you:
dancing down the aisle on
graduation day,
Sunday shoes shined, my face
on your wingtips,
a blue gown draped over your
broad shoulders.
pearl teeth poking through
your lips, your hands flailing
in the humid air.
us. them. we . . .
children, no longer children
headed into a world
that promised to
swallow us whole.
you are not dead,
not today.
I remember you alive.
Originally published via Medium.
