By Guest Poet A.D. Winans
Like a hummingbird feasting on
the pollen of life
You walked the streets like a Samurai
With words sharp as a sword
You lived your life like a chess master
Found peace in the mountains
But never forgot the life blood
Of the city
Ravaged by illness, you cut through
The pain with the precision
Of a surgeon’s scalpel
Your spirit left behind
In the grass in the leaves
In the sky
Your words soft as feathers
Rode life to the end of the line
With metaphors that serenaded
The mind
Your memory dances with the wind
Becomes one with the stars
In a new place a new terrain
In the Buddha temple of life
All things die
But only the flesh expires
The spirit cannot be killed
Lives on in the heartbeat of the sun
In the words and friends who wait
To become one
© 2011 by A.D. Winans
All Rights Reserved
Photo Credits: Hummingbird © Larry Keller | Dreamstime.com and Samurai Grabbing Sword © Sean Pavone | Dreamstime.com
About Ben Hiatt (1943-2007)
Ben was a well-known Northern California poet, a larger-than-life character and one of the many people whose talent and passion for poetry provided a model for me in my early days as a poet. Learn more about him on Rattlesnake Press and on this tribute on Sacramento Poetry Center's blog.
Thanks to A.D. Winans, for permission to print this poem about his long-time fellow poet in honor of the upcoming publication of Ben's last manuscript in Primal Urge, including testimonials. Watch for it.
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