Dedicated to AuthorsDen poet Odin Roark

Tribute to a Poet
By John Herlihy

Today passed like any other we spend,
Except perhaps for one unexpected thing.
News arrived about an online friend,
A poet no longer well enough to sing.

His poems arrived regularly, like clockwork,
Full of expectation I would click on his link,
To read through the inspiration in his work,
Rare beauty whose words often led to the brink.

To the brink of a new world unique of its kind,
Out of the experience of a life he has known,
Drawn from depths of another human mind,
A patchwork quilt of emotions carefully sewn.

Suddenly, no more words to cast their spell,
Only silence arrived on my digital doorstep.
What had happened no one could truly tell,
Only the faint echoes of a poet’s footstep.

We have never met in person in this world;
I have no idea that in this world we ever will.
He is on a journey along another road unfurled,
I live in a far country and will remain here still.

I know him intimately from his earnest writings,
Every true poet ends up laying himself bare.
No special need to have actual human sightings,
Our relationship has been one unique and rare.

Two poets from the distance sharing their lives,
A blessing such a meeting of minds can take place.
One poet now silenced by a sickness most despised,
Silence that now echoes thru the halls of empty space.

Silent sentinels stand and watch for discovery;
The wind waits and whispers thru twilight pines.
Our valued poet walks the long road of recovery;
Once again to fill our minds with his rugged rhymes.