RAY BRADBURY, THE POET

It seems every writer has a Ray Bradbury story. Mine includes one of my favorite people on this world, Jim Reed, who was for a time President of the Ray Bradbury fan club. Really.

Jim is also a collector of quotes. When he shared this one with me years and years ago, I felt like Ray Bradbury had written it just for me. I had it printed on the back of my business cards:

“Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.”

YES, Ray, yes! And thank you, Jim, for also introducing me to Ray Bradbury the poet:

A poem written on learning
that Shakespeare and Cervantes
both died on the same day
by
Ray Bradbury

Great Shakespeare lost, Cervantes gone
The sun at noon goes down. The dawn
Refuses light. Time holds its breath
At this coincidence of death
Then can it be? and is it so
That these twin gods to darkness go
All in a day! and none to stop
The harvesting of this fell crop
Each in its field, and each so bright
They, burning, hurled away the night.
Yet night returns to seize its due,
One Spirit Spout? No! Death takes two.
First one. The world goes wry from lack
Then two! tips world to balance back.
Two Comet strikes within a week,
First Spain, then dumbstruck England's cheek.
The world grinds mute in dreads and fears
Antarctica melts down to tears,
And Caesars ghosts erupted, rise
All bleeding Amazons from eyes,
An age has ended, yet must stay
As witness to a brutal day
When witless God left us alone
By deathing Will, then Spanish clone.
Who dares to try and gauge each pen
We shall not see such twins again.
Shakespeare is lost, Cervantes dead?
The conduits of God are bled
rest of poem here

And now, don't forget to visit one of the sweetest bloggers on the net, Jama Rattigan for Poetry Friday Roundup!