Elegy for the Ghost of Brandy French

I loved you once.
When we were young.

The summers hot.
The winters cold.

When we talked for 9 hours on
Christmas Eve, on a land line.

Back when people still talked
through a tether.

Sometimes laughing.
Sometimes crying.

Sometimes just listening
to each other breathe.

After your funeral,
people later said

we were too young
to know love.

Too young to know how
to take hold of a heartbeat.

You were a smile that saved
a boy from suicide.

A breath of fresh air when
I was still choking on guilt.

A bell ringing confidence boost
to a boy barely able to swim.

A butterfly that coaxed boy from
the cocoon that held his body captive.

An angel whose eyes were the first
to gaze into the corners

of my rib-caged heart, daring to
crawl into the cracks any damn how.

 

 

James T. Blanchard is a poet and carpenter among many other things. He is the founder and director of the Magnolia Shed Series, a monthly showcase of the arts featuring poetry, comedy, visual art and music. He was a member of the 2016 Eclectic Truth National Poetry Slam Team. James also has had works published in The Decades Review and MockingHeart Review. He resides in Lafayette, Louisiana with his girlfriend Becca and their 3 cats, Purccy, Meechem, and Ace.