The Death Of Billie Holiday Poem by Theresa Haffner

When Billie Holiday died
(for all our sins)
all she had was $500
taped to the inside of her thigh

she had no condos, no real estate,
no expensive cars, no elegant furniture
no swiss bank accounts

had she lived
all those things
would have been hers

but she died in 1959
before any of them
were possible

never in her wildest dreams
could she imagine the extent of her fame
or how many lives would be touched by her

she had lived a life
of dizzying highs
and treacherous lows

and all she had to
to show for it

was an understanding
of life

and how to communicate it

through words
and music