Collage

He looks At the collage With glassy eyes The pieces of the puzzle of him The memories that have been stolen Swept away Vanquished An occasional glimmer A spark of recognition His dear mother She had taught him three languages Now he barely remembers one The contours of her face make him smile She had formed the poet The professor This lover of words Sadly only fragments of him remain Pictures of his sons Long absent from his life Their happy faces A facade of happier times that could have been Intelligence and expectations his curse his gift They felt the weight of his words placed on their hearts They never felt good enough smart enough not like him the great man The reader and translator of superior minds Honored Knighted by kings Celebrated The pictures part of his collage Proof that he was here That his life was real Not imagined Others remember Yet mercifully he forgets The sadder parts The picture of the car The brother that was killed The blame that was heaped on him Him the unsuspecting child The scars he carried through his days until now He hopes to continue to remember how to forget Not afraid of death No longer lost in regret The collage of him Pictured moments Displayed In no particular order Words Images A chair occupied A mind denied Still within The poet trapped Continues life's ride I wrote this poem about the famous Poet Edwin Honig after watching a documentary about him filmed by his cousin. "First Cousin Once Removed."