Morning/Mourning Of The Pistoleros Poem by Gabrielle Ciarann Roniyah Baer

Artie!
where have you gone?
In a moment's flash, you're not here.
Left behind's an empty-eyed husk
barely recognizable in death.
Your essence torn away in pain and blood,
your form folded in a wooden box,
hidden beneath protecting earth.
Gone?

Friend,
where are you now?
weary heart shattered,
ruddy face pale,
Lightning grin and agile hands stilled,
Brilliant guesswork and subtle barbs silenced,
all that you were has disappeared
all you left is empty,
unfamiliar, mocking,
Dead?

Compadre,
how can you die?
Too alive to vanish from this world
you loved and laughed at, hated and fought for
you've paid
the mad world's price
for giving, for daring, for making a difference.
Lost?

Partner,
How can I mourn you?
What will show the world who they've lost?
who'll fight your causes,
hopeless or otherwise,
who'll shout your laughter,
who'll see my tears?
I, forgive me,
have a failing,
never photographic memory
struggling to hold on now,
I need your strength
Forgotten?

Artie, I swear NEVER!

On every time you saved my crazy life,
I'll keep you alive
with every cause I fight and hope for
with every ounce of energy and wit
and caring most of all
that fierce caring you spared no one
while I breathe
while I move and speak and dare
No one will forget you,
my friend, my brother,
No one will EVER forget you, Artemus,
who remembers me.


written in 1982