Ben Stanton’s life went out in the night,
Neath the white feet of winter tread,
Unseen by all for want of feeling,
That night caught, in a wind screaming as revenants do; it ripped past
the still buildings and, wove down the stream of lights beside him,
Cars, the light bearers; metal phantoms, ticking time enough for snow
to pile,
And all the while,
No hoof champed the ground there to signal aid in winter’s wail,
Ben wouldn’t have shelter,
For he was privy to its false sentiment, like ivy crumbling its
foundations,
Inside no respite, meant only to bide time out of our old gray Eden,
Ghost, wraith, spectre of what may’ve been if not for misfortune,
He owned little beyond the clothes on his back,
Besides those things, a thin blanket, a D cell torch and, a bottle of
whiskey,
The cold blanket snapped like a twig when removed from round his
body,
The D cell was dead, the whiskey empty,
As dead and, as empty as he,
Ben’s mother was not surprised when she’d heard the gloom had
passed,
For it was, among other things; mercurial and, lovesome for pain,
The kind unkind found in the sting at the end of every upturned bottle,
She said, in a voice as cold as the night already forgotten, “I wish he
would have sought shelter,
She sighed one last time for the son,
“At least now it is over.”
Submitted: December 11, 2020
© Copyright 2021 Black Dog. All rights reserved.
Comments
What a beautiful and evocative poem. The imagery is compelling, the emotion is raw and real, the despair and love intertwined expressed so thoughtfully. One of the best poems I've read in a long time. I liked the reference to A Christmas Carol too.
Sun, December 20th, 2020 7:54pmMore Poetry Poems
Boosted Content from Other Authors
Poem / Romance
Book / Action and Adventure
Book / Action and Adventure
Book / Fantasy
Boosted Content from Premium Members
Book / Romance
Book / Action and Adventure
Book / Young Adult
Book / Romance
Other Content by Black Dog
Poem / Poetry
Poem / Poetry
Black Dog
I just read through this again..... Not good : ) I'll try to improve.
Mon, December 14th, 2020 11:10pm