Goodbye, Everybody

Where lies the tormented body

of the Candy Man's wastrel poet?

It's a complicated story--

look to the sea, his father's stony countenance suggests,

you won't find him lying in Garrettsville cemetery.

Nor will you find him curled up under the Brooklyn bridge

or in the dim light of the Odeon transfixed by The Kid. 

You could search the innumerable white buildings along the river,

or any of the many back alleys of bathtub misery, but

you won't find him there either.

Some have thought to seek him out at Woodlawn,

thinking he might be found lingering

among the legends; while others believe

he's more likely wandering far back along the golden trail

climbing the long morning's wiry vine--

they'd all be wrong: you won't him find any of those places.

The knowledgeable will tell you

Hart's sleeping among the fishes, 

how he took his own life, so lonely

and wasted of promise he climbed up and over

the railing of an old tramp steamer bound from Mexico

shortly before noon, and bid the world goodbye,

everybody, somewhere north of Cuba.

But truth be told, you'll find the young Crane pressed amidst his pages.

Ken e Bujold

2022

Reviews

[Neville]

.. I believe this to be extremely sad but true, just wish the mould had broke when he hit .. but then, unfortunately, we both know, it never did ............... and maybe never will .. unique & well scripted Ken

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks once more for the kindness of your review Neville, hope you feeling better

[Chris]

Went well with coffee. You're up late or early... g'morning.

[Ken e Bujold]

bit of both. too much of a nap early evening. glad you enjoyed the read with your coffee. have a great day yourself Chris

[Robert Haigh]

Sad to think of the artistically talented who are gone too soon from this world, either by their own hand or by the hand of fate. Poets, painters, sculptors, actors, musicians... there have been many who had short but notable careers. Their creations live on, in the medium they chose, but those who lived short sad lives deserve a moment of our time to remember them. An engaging, wistful kind of write. As your last line suggests: we may find something of the actual person in their surviving oeuvre.

[Ken e Bujold]

crane was a bright flame, possessed by demons. The Bridge is one of the modernist classics. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no self control over his appetites. The title of this poem is his reported last words as he leapt over the rail. The reference to Candy Man is in regards to his father's rather successful business as a candy maker, including the brand Life Savers. While "look to the sea" refers to the inscription on his father's tomb, he died a year after Crane, which was also scripted for the son, and reads quite simply "lost at sea" but many have read as a lasting father's comment on the wastrel of a son.

[Robert Haigh]

An interesting and enlightening note, Ken.

[softlyfall]

Some flames burn too bright, they burn themselves out. He must have been tortured. I wish I could give him a hug.

[Ken e Bujold]

Hart Crane was a marvelous poet, but a very unpleasant fellow