February 21, 2005

 

On Reading of the Death of Hunter S. Thompson

 

(not about him, particularly,

but reflective of my emotions

in reaction to the accolades he received)

 

wild man

careless living

cowardly dying

such a waste

of life

 

would we weep

if he died

 

would we care

to notice the hole he might leave

would we even notice

his passing

 

would he pass

loudly hailed and revered

the defiant cry his last refrain

or in the whisper

of an exhausted final breath

 

would we miss

the man he used to be

or find an other

on whom to pin our cause

with tears but barely dry

 

would he stand

before analysis

would we even care to weigh

or save that for an Other

 

would we weep

when he died

 

and why