ELEGY Poem: How Many Thousands of Lines, by Edward Garvey

The well of tears once deeply kept
soars when he releases your hand.

We face each trial step by step.
We learn each scene line by line.

How many thousands of his lines of poetry
(no, even more) lie in your deep well of memory,

lining each thought with guiding light,
(or reminding you of misguided dark).

Each recalls the father to the son,
each calls forth the memory of the man –

not only songs of love and perfect rhymes,
but tales and puns and yes, even rage.

Taken from his steps by step, learned line by line,
each trace a lesson to leave his lineage taut.

These, all these lines now keep
your world from flying into the night.