Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Quotes
Short Stories
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Resources
Syllable Counter
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 3.135.199.195
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
Hail "Ha," Well Met! “Ha’s” a friend who I cherished and felt cherished by More than sister or brother, our parents were sky Overhead, sun, moon, stars that still glow in their pride That two mates (born of stardust) took life so in stride, That we looked more at value, did not ascribe blame In a world where few others I’ve met, act the same! A new world (war took homeland): we met as we trained To develop a life skill that suits more right-brained, More emotive, creators, that others seek out, When their hair curls a strange way, or color’s in doubt. Yes, we surfed waves for fun, and life’s splits cut away, Friends who loved to make straight twists and turns in our day. She would ring me, “Hey, Evil!” if I did not call. But then cancer stepped in, her green faded with Fall. Moms brought closer by loss, we both lost sons too soon, Sparks extinguished in Springtime, months well short of June. Though each life gained is gifting, it fills with mistakes, May no God doubt the courage all human life takes! Brian Johnston 18th of May in 2020 Poet’s Notes: I wrote this poem for my love, Kimmy Mai, to memorialize her friend Ha Pham who died of cancer on the 15th of May 2020. Ha and Kimmy were both children during and refugees of the Vietnam War. It is a challenge to write a poem as a ghostwriter in the voice of another living being. I did not know Ha at all really though I did meet her at least once many years ago. Some may recall the memorial poem I wrote when Kimmy’s boss at Santa Clara Hair Salon died (that is now a part of “Beary Tales”) called “Only A Star.” It was that sweet simple poem that gave me the idea of giving “discovered poetry” by Bear Johnston a full page of exposure with each Beary Tale adventure! Bear’s poetry gives me a chance to offer his unique, more “mature” perspective with each vignette. Kimmy asked me to write a simple poem like “Only A Star” for her friend. The first stanza was the seed that helped me to tease out more details of what helped to make Ha so important to Kimmy. Ha’s “Hey, Evil!” greeting and their shared loss (both had sons who committed suicide that the poem only hints at), help make the poem noteworthy. May I say though, I also love the poem’s concluding lines.
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required