You’re a voice on an answering machine.
A flickering Kodachrome memory on a brittle movie screen.
“Leave a message!” you say. Cheery even in death.
You smoke and spill your drink, bumbling around at a party, laughing hysterically. Soundlessly. You’re dead. She’s dead, the one whose head is thrown back and mouth is open. He’s dead, the best man at your wedding, dead far too young. You are sepia and senseless, not knowing, not knowing.
You’re a blog post, a post that hasn’t changed, that will never change, and you’re so cheery, so cheery, so cheery.
And you’re dead.
Don’t you know? I mean, don’t you know?
Who will be your voice now?
Who will make us smile?
Who will break our hearts?
Who will see this comment?
Who will care?
Don’t you know?
For Tia L. Brink.
For Jamie & Ann Eyberg.
For Chris Al-Aswad.
We are all on the same frequency this week. Nice tribute!
ReplyDeleteVery nice. Well done. Don't know what to say other than that.
ReplyDeleteSad but fitting tribute. Well done.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tribute. Tough couple of weeks all around. Peace...
ReplyDeleteMe again. Oh jesus, I didn't realize Tia was in your tribute. I knew she was having cardiac surgery. I'm reeeling. Another loss for us all. Blessings, Tia. Peace to you...
ReplyDeleteGorgeous and heart-rending, Cathy. I guess quite a few of us are in shock, and you are speaking it for us all.
ReplyDeleteLove to you, you spark of light. <3
Beautiful, Cathy. I have a tear in my eye. Very touching tribute.
ReplyDeleteHope you're okay, Cathy. You said this came from what you couldn't get out of your mind. I didn't know the four you dedicated it to (at least not by those names), but I'm sorry for your many losses.
ReplyDeleteWho will be your voice now? Very touching. I didn't know the writers this is written for but I think it's a beautiful tribute.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh. This really chilled me. So well said, Cathy.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, Cathy. Such a cry from your heart. And so sorry for the loss of these important people from your life.
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to you. Peace be upon you.
ReplyDeleteAdam B @revhappiness
A lovely tribute, Cathy, to those no longer with us.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful tribute, Cathy. They all left unexpectedly and the holes in our hearts will never be filled.
ReplyDeleteVery touching, Cathy. I think they know.
ReplyDelete~jon
Staggering in it's beauty...
ReplyDeleteI don't know the people but I love this. Moving, tough, melancholic but cuts through. Just lovely.
ReplyDeleteHeart-wrenching and beautiful. You really captured the eeriness of time stopped, those last words, the inability of the mind to fully grasp how powerless we are to start time again.
ReplyDeleteI just read Jon's tribute to Tia a few minutes ago and was left bawling because, (having been "out of the loop" this week), it was the first I'd heard of her death.
ReplyDeleteAnd now to hear you've experienced even more than that...what strength you have to pen such a lovely tribute Cathy. My thoughts are with you.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. Honestly, you all know Tia and Jamie and Ann and Chris TONS better than me. I just felt a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of our fellow writers in this small circle to meet such untimely deaths. It makes me sad to think of their beautiful blogs untended, abandoned - and yet isn't it wonderful to have a piece of them to turn to. Their own memorial, in a sense, to last as long as blogger and the internet sees fit. I am happy to say that, in Chris's case, Escape into Life is being continued by a small group of dedicated people, including my friend Mark Kerstetter. I guess our stories will be scattered around the universe much like our ashes will be scattered into the wind, long after we sleep.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your questions, who will speak for them - you said it best in your own comment, Cathy. They will speak for themselves, through their writings. That's the thing about being an artist, even if you create on a very small scale, you leave behind your voice. You leave behind things you really wanted to share. And that is something to be glad of. It's a lucky, lovely gift for the ones left behind.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I want to pray to the dead, as if they're a god, 'Please, guide me now,' but I don't, because as you eloquently say, they're "sepia and senseless", nothing and VOID-
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about your losses Cathy. Chris is the only one I had some sort of contact, I astounded that other writers of your circle have passed away recently.
ReplyDeleteLovely tribute to them, very touching.