by Sam Walker
poem for an austrian girl
I would compare you to a rose, but pretty flowers
never do last long before they start to wither
I would compare you to the sun, but someday it will consume itself
as stars tend to do
perhaps it is an injustice to compare you to anything at all;
you are far too strange and far too perfect
and I am just a man
the epilogue of an american love story
you told me once that you trusted me enough to introduce me
to your daughter;
she and I will never meet, not as anything more than strangers,
but should she ask about the man you knew
I want you to tell her everything
make sure she comes to know the long nights we spent together
focused only on each other
talking about our hopes, our dreams, our fears
(our regrets)
tell her I was the warmest person you knew
that you were the one who left me freezing
I let you into the garden of my heart
opened to you like a blooming flower to the sun,
but you picked and plucked until there was nothing left
no one has been able to plant love in my barren soil
since you
look her in the eye and tell her you took me for granted
Gay Writes is a DiverseCity Writing Series writing group, a program of SLCC’s Community Writing Center. The group meets the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 210 E. 400 S., Ste. 8, Salt Lake.
