TWO MORE POEMS FOR DAVID SIMPSON
The December 2017 issue of Wordgathering featured a tribute to the late poet, playwright and
musician David Simpson. The retrospective included both selections from Simpson’s own work and poems written
for him by other writers. Since that issue appeared, two other writers, Scott Edward Anderson and Elizabeth
Rivers, have also contributed poems honoring David Simpson.
Mowing Blind
by Elizabeth Rivers
Taking the curves blind
Dave mows grass
to every edge. Watch this,
he says. I do.
For supper, he broils
burgers, bubbles fudge,
with naked hands he sees
the gas flame’s force.
Hyacinth brighten
air like light, scent
sugaring chords,
separate notes he knows:
train whistle, dog’s whine,
questing voices.
After dishes, showing off
his touches, he makes
keyboards perform.
Dave dances, sings,
serious grasshopper—
juggling possi-
bilities, he plays
cadenzas with heart’s
hide-and-seeking God.
When ALS
arrests his flesh, knots
nerve by nerve, his soul
stamps louder, claps
its hands, sings on.
* * *
App to the Stars
by Scott Edward Anderson
I can't see the stars tonight
in cloud-cover and city night glare,
so I double-tap on my night sky app
make missing stars revealed.
Virgo hiding behind the corner
of my apartment building;
illuminated, first in outline,
then sketched in white-on-black:
woman holding back nothing,
at least until she fades from view.
Moving my iPhone to the left
aiming just below horizon,
the Moon appears, unrisen.
Swinging my view to the apartment
above, Ursa Major hangs, looming.
Back down from ceiling to floor,
I see the sun, a good eight hours away.
Man, there’s a lot of space junk up there:
rocket bodies and satellites.
But it’s a series of random names
and numbers – a cypher, a type of code,
indicating stars we've shared our universe
with for eons, fascinates me most:
NGC5466, KRAZ, PCEN, 17CRT.
Now panning with my phone facing me,
spinning around and around the room
swinging away, from start to star-
dizzying with every swipe, every turn.
My head full of stars, planets, galaxies.
To read the complete tribute to David Simpson, including poems by Daniel Simpson, Stephen Kuusisto, Shirley
Brewer, Rocky Wilson and Michael Northen, as well as Simpson's own work,
click here.
|