Evelyn Augusto Poet Free verse

In Memory of Joe Cocker

Today I pass the time reading
a favorite note from you, and
saying our acronym over and over.

It feels like hearing you 
call my name, from a dream,
again and again. Yasbtm. Yasbtm.

I lie on my back on the bed and say it.
I drum the syllables on the pillow.
I see your secret code of affection 
in the pattern on the ceiling tiles.

Yasbtm.

I stand at the sink, 
toothbrush in hand,
and say it, my mouth full--
I dare not spit. 
l smile our secret and swallow.

And when outside I stoop to
write the letters in the snow: 
Yasbtm
I say it, trying to remain as beautiful 
as I was when you sent Joe 
as a messenger the first time--
trying to be the same as when you left.

And everytime I say it, I feel the 
excruciating pressure of knowing 
that I'm not the same: I'm no longer 
so beautiful.  You left and took 
that part of me with you.

By: Evelyn Augusto 
#poetsout @evelynaugusto2012

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Beata Agustin May 24, 2026 at 12:27 AM Thanks for sharing this... exposing your thoughts through your unique poetic style. Meanwhile, I greet you with the love of the Lord, expressed by John 3:16 of the Bible, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Be blessed.