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Beatlick
Joe Holds Court in the Desert
Late at night I hear laughter at the
Evangelico Cemetery
poet Beatlick Joe entertains eighty six
souls
raconteur extraordinaire cracking jokes
from the grave
red ants vibrate out of their nests
confused
ask the crickets what to do
coyotes in the Sandia Mountains howl and
join the laughter
when that casket's rockin' don't come
knockin'
leave them in peace, leave them in joy
Beatlick Joe holds his audience enthralled
high in the desert on a starry, starry
night.
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Beatlick Joe Speer's ashes were buried alongside the ashes of 86 other souls in a single casket now interred in the Evangelico Cemetery, Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can read more about Joe's fittingly unusual last ride by following the link: "Poet Proud Among Paupers".
Beautiful! Joe is missed.
ReplyDeleteHe definitely is. Maybe it's because even before coronavirus, the spread of toxic far-right hate politics and the essential emptiness of consumerism had begun to make us all realise how much freedom we'd given up … People like Beatlick Joe lived for something a bit more nourishing to the soul than making sure you had a bigger car, a newer refrigerator or the latest model of mobile phone.
ReplyDeleteGood poem, good response Bruce.
ReplyDelete