Poem / The Day David Died

The Day David Died

I cried

And wrote his lyrics

In the sand

I looked up at the sky

Feeling every thing

I wished for so many things

The day David died

I cried

And all the words he wrote

Got caught up in my throat

And hurt inside my chest

David Bowie

Oh you pretty thing!

He was like the six former

You never dared to kiss

He was a voice I loved

A presence that made me glad

Some bright colour

And some light

In a predictable world

All my heroes…
 Too many to mention

But I’ll cry for them too

And how I cried for Gil Scott Heron

Because it’s not about the loss

The tears are not for love is lost

I cry for what was found and tried

His innovation and creation

That is why I cried

The day that David died

I was sixteen

All over again

Sucking on a bucket bong

Listening to Hunky Dory

I was transported

Though my life time

Cherished memories

The soundtrack of teenage rebellion

That is why I cried

The day David died

I cried for all those years past

And all that crazy happiness

My favourite fuck ups

Punctuated by those songs

Headlined by that star

And so I sing to the ocean

“Viva David”

“Long live Black Star”

David Jones is gone

But Bowie lives on

The ocean washes

This poem away

“We can be heroes

Just for one day”

But the sea and salt

Are as eternal as time

As sunrise

And sunset

I won’t forget

How I cried

The day David

Died.

(c) Salena Godden / Thailand, Koh Kood, January 2016