Click here for a reading by the poet
“His left hand protruded awkwardly
From under the draped, white sheet.”
Words buried on page nine
Of the morning paper
A kind unofficial obituary
Rather than a news story.
A witness said a guy stopped to
Get “high” on his
Neighbor’s porch
In weather so biting it could
Freeze One’s Inside Soul.
A heroine overdose was only minutes away for the
“Sixty two year old white male,” The paper said,
Who had frequented the
Rescue Mission and Soup Kitchen in town.
The man lay
Dead for hours while
Police hurried in the frigid wind
To wrapped up their
On-scene investigation.
“His left hand protruded awkwardly from under
The draped, white sheet.”
A chilling way to wave goodbye…
D.J. Haslett
Copyright 2007
Audio Engineer: Scott Miller of Exit7a.com