poem

 Don't Forget to Say Goodnight

You forgot to say goodnight.

I'm out in the streets in my pajamas

Looking everywhere for you.

I wanted to tell you that the poems

Of John Ashberry make a clattering 

Sound in my mind like someone 

Dropping a champagne flute 

On a stone floor during

A moment of silence recognizing

All the brave men and women who lost

Their lives during the siege 

On the citadel of final understanding.

So many good soldiers, lost.

Our heads were bowed

Only the birds outside made a sound 

Lips moved silently in prayer

And then it all shattered 

Which almost seemed deliberate 

As if God were warning everyone

We were starting to get too close

8/19/25