Jane Yolen
That Damned Pipe
I met you that way, the sweetness
of the briar, your confident walk
eating up city streets where once
it devoured southern mountains,
a lust-filled lunting that took me in.
Who knew time was already ticking
beneath your tongue, greedily
building the reservoir of death.
You who were always so full of life,
never ill: hunter, fisherman, birdwatcher,
your closest companion field glasses
that brought the world into clearest view.
That damned pipe, that damned lunting,
taking you from us way too early
leaving only the field glasses behind.
Jane Yolen is a poet, novelist, children’s book writer, essayist, short story writer, and lyricist. To date, she has published 376 books, 10 of them poetry collections for adult readers. She has won many awards for her work, including two Nebulas, two Golden Kite Awards, a Caldecott Medal, two Christopher Medals, a New England Public Radio Arts & Humanities award, and three World Fantasy awards. Six colleges and universities have granted her honorary doctorates. Yolen writes, “But awards can be dangerous. One set my good coat on fire.”
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