Blue Green — a poem in loving memory of my uncle and father figure, Johnnie Lynn Zambrowski (1946–2020)
Winding roads led me here tonight,
to the water's edge beside your birthplace.
I brought the music with me
and I cling to the melody
like you used to do.
I let it coax the tears
out of their hiding place
and I feel the earth sob
alongside me.
The breeze drags aquatic aromas
along in the cool night air,
reminiscent of that playful place
where the sea anemones
performed their predatory dance
while we pretended
that everything we had
would last
just as it was,
unchanging
and eternal.
You told me once
that death is a part of life.
But how am I to handle that eventuality
when you are the one who death claimed?
I was never on my own
when you were here.
The one who made life worth the living
is silent and still, breathless and restful.
I am thankful for your peace
but I miss you selfishly.
My pen merely scratches the paper.
No words are worthy of filling your eulogy.
I cry rivers in the darkness,
blue tears kissing verdant green,
watering the grass beneath my feet.
