Epitaph forThe lost poemWhich containedEverythingAnd nothing.Touched everyone, anyoneWho desiredThe mystery of mysteriesWords of words, which brought forthLanguageBoth blessed & cursed usMarried us, buried us and partedThe heavens and theDeep blue seasMade Houdini disappearAnd broke the sole ofKhrushchev’s soulShot KennedyAnd then shot a rocketTo the moonSold us, indiscriminateCommanded us to war and gloryAnd holocaust – unimagined imaginationThe scavengers & architects, historyFighting for space apocalypticDown on Wall Street and in the Silicone ValleyStages of poetry and stagesOf time living, breathing & dyingOn the battlefieldsOf life.The Poem,Too earlyToo lateToo badThe lost poemWhich containedNothing and everythingEverything and nothingAt all.You left it home on theKitchen table where your childrenDrew on itIn crayonIt is just as well.
EPITAPH
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R.M. ENGELHARDT,
FROM “THE RESURRECTION WALTZ” 2013