Lines Composed in a Random Cemetery

by Julie Stoner

In memoriam: Alan Sullivan (1948-2010)
Eratosphere’s feared and beloved “Editor from Hell”

NON EST HIC, a marble angel cries
in three-inch letters. Headline news, indeed:
HE IS NOT HERE. I know this, but I need
the stillness carved and polished stone supplies.

NON EST HIC, another stone proclaims.
For me, he wasn’t ever “here”. We met
only in words, and now the Internet
preserves those words as stone preserves these names.

We never shared a meal. I can’t pretend
I liked his politics. His tone annoyed
me frequently. But on the other hand,
the love that made this brilliant man my friend
will still be verdant when the Web is void
and all this stone has weathered into sand.

 

 

Arrowhead Press: http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend