Cold
by Witt Wittmann
A cold February wind
crawls up my leg
and rattles my knees
A preacher fumbles
over the verses
that I know by heart
Why doesn’t he know them?
Quaking, I sit
watching two unknown
men folding the flag
each turn means something; I forget
The coffin is a beautiful wood
I wonder whose grave
this chair is teetering on?
I dare not sit back in comfort
I did that once in a comedy club
fell over, tore up my
diamond tennis bracelet, all the rage back then
Everyone thought me drunk, I am sure
hadn’t even had a drink yet
I wonder who the comedian was?
The flag is presented to the son
Now the standing around begins
I turn up my fake-fur collar
I spy two real minks
I must speak to the son
before I leave
What will I say?
His arms crush out my words
unspoken
his tears run cold
down my neck
I wonder how
I am ever to find Main Street
from this unfamiliar cemetery?
©Wittmann 2006
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The End
And that’s the End of the Poem
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