Manhattan Epitaphs

The one lone truth I'm certain of

this side the grave:

I haven't so long to live

as I used to have.

FAME

Here is one

with much to say

which no one heard

until this day.

OBLIVION

And here lies one

with much to say

he should have saved

to say today.

WIND AND WIND

Wind and wind

dance

with what she was

and what she'll be:

bone and dust

till she's free.

TWO WEEKS

This tired old cuss

whom the boss never fired

was in hope of a raise

or in hopes of a rest-

a two weeks' vacation

in a quiet nook

where he'd lie on his back

in a hammock, and look

at the leaves overhead

or the leaves of a book.

HOBO

Save the shadiest benches

in all Kingdom Come

for this wandering minstrel

the world called a bum.

CONTEMPORARY

An ambitious soul

wrote about his age,

and fell down this hole

when Time turned the page.

THIS GRAVE

He shall love this grave

for the girl that's in it

and the love she gave.

THIEVES

The one we loved

was stolen by the Thief,

and now new Life

steals grief.

POET

When Death

puts you in his anthology

itll be without praise

or apology.

HUMANITY

"Vanity," saith the preacher,

"Inanity's all the rage."

"Insanity," saith the sane man,

"Humanity," the sage.

Structure

61 lines · 10 stanzas