On the second anniversary of Heathcote Williams’ travels
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Two years mark the day
But there has been no time spent without you.
Held as you are in the thought light,
The word light shines all the more.
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Casting its deep shadow, we write,
Following the lines you left with us;
As our hearts and fingers trace motion
Like a blind man found at truth’s door.
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One can still read you like Braille,
Rising from the page, superceeding
What we might call the pale print of others
As you colour in now from far suns,
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What the flesh led to and found
As the captive angel conditions
The wracked heart around it and the stories
You scorched with bright blood.
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All of your energies fused
The surrounding space you engendered.
Friends made in a moment became eternal
Attendees at your court.
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Prince of the pen, Poet King,
Your mischief and muse venerated
All of those forced and forfeit
To the crimes of state still enforced.
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You freed the spirit, now yours,
Brothers the souls you defended. Whale
And Elephant. Dolphin. Dodo and Tree,
Jesus Christ. As you move from man
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Into Myth what we know of you forms
New language with which we will talk
To you and with you again, through
Starlight.
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………… You will be dancing behind,
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Nimble as you were in your ‘hey’day,
Your ‘wow’ zone resplendent, whenever your
Writing and way claimed a mind.
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Those still on the planet salute you in love,
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Winking our wish through the cosmos,
Broadcasting life’s message that yours
Is the path still to find. It used to lead
To Oxford, but now, it stretches on
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Beyond Pluto, for wherever God sits
You’ll be searching for Alien leads
In a Play. There will be starred graffiti,
Comet clear, bridging brand new solar systems
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As you call into question both creation’s
Frame and time’s sway. You will immortally moving,
Far, free, as you redefine the first nothing,
Rewriting life and the future as I sit
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Thinking of you on July the 1st, your death day.
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For Heathcote, alive, as you continue to be,
Words are shining. You have sent summer sun
To speak for you as you remain freedom bound.
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We await, each of us, to continue the lessons
You taught us; as our released fires seek you
When our time arrives, trace our sound.
For just two years mark the point in which
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You moved behind colour. So, in this black
And white, I call to you: I send up
This fresh signal flare. Friends and family blaze.
The thought goes on. The love also.
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We will carry on, as if with you.
Attempting you. That’s God’s dare.
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David Erdos 28th June 2019
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All of your energies fused
The surrounding space you engendered.
Friends made in a moment became eternal
Attendees at your court.
Indeed. Our paths crossed only for a short time, between Oxford and the Grove, long ago, but I am still in attendance. Next stop the stars?
Thank you, David, for this fine poem.
Comment by John Evans on 29 June, 2019 at 1:17 pmA living inspiration. To be assimilated in the present. Like no other.
Comment by Cy Lester on 29 June, 2019 at 3:17 pm