135 Comments

I used this poem in my class today. One of my students said, "You didn't have to kill me with this today." I take that as a good thing. All of my classes have absolutely loved your work.

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death kissed us and drifted away... sigh a story told so beautifully i can almost hear his laugh

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What a encouraging story in such a dark time. I really was happy to hear your brother was alive and had a booming voice. Don’t know why. But it was encouraging.

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Vivid and chilling narration; starts vague, focus sharpening till we are inside that truck-bed coffin, bellowing in pain, almost missed. The tears of rescuers' joy! Like a dance move, the flirtation between death and young men. A great way for a brother to know he is loved, this poem.

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Heavy and light....all at once. The result of fully living and being boldly alive is the gift of whatever 'saved' him. God or universe? The intervention still brings goosebumps spelled divine. Wonderful poem. Blessings, ~Wendy💜

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Beautiful poem, so very poignant. I've come close to death -- cancer -- and unbelievably survived while I watched several friends die. Why did they die and why did I live? Don't know the answer.

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Haunting with a near-perfect finish. I've been close a couple of times, and there's some truth to comparing a brush with death to a kiss.

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Remember when they used to steal chrome bumpers?

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Thanks Sherm, today is my brother's birthday. Nearly lost him a couple times, drugs. Love make hostages of us all. thanks

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So beautiful, raw, and emotional. Thank you 💕

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Beautiful, sad, and joyous all at the same time. Thank God you still have your brother!

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Enjoyed this very much, especially the narrator's admission that when remembering a story, fact and fiction often blur. I am reminded of what Eduardo Galeano said about his prose narratives: “These happenings happened at one time or another, or almost did, or never did, but their virtue is that they happen every time they are told.”

Yes, it's the story that matters and how stories can profoundly transform a reader, and then be passed on and on . . .

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This builds beautifully … poetry usually defeats me, but I guess this is a prose poem with storytelling chops that, for me, really bit hard. Wow.

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This poem truly took my heart away—

The details of this heavy metal chrysalis poem so resonated through me as I read.

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You got us where we live! So richly alive

his heavy metal crysalis poem Sherman!!!

Wow. Thank you❤️

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“…when death kissed us and then drifted away.” I love the arc of this poem, the brother love, “our Indian boy history” as well as the way it opens me (and likely others) to remember when death kissed us and then left us to live on. Thank you.

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