Death of a Poet
Death of a Poet
Whitney Crawford
To the last it came, and there she slumps
All shuttered doors and twitching nerves
All half-torn sheets and blotted words
Dark curtains drawn in quiet haste
Bedside reaching; foggy hot delirium,
To her desk of dreams and holy work
Now knocked to ruin by the charcoal streaks
Of a long-spilt bone-dry inkpot
Dimming sights; torn, scribbled pages
Her mortal verse soon set to rot
Near the gone-cold milk-tea dredges
Of an unwashed mug and that spoiled inkpot
Flustering hands; weak, bone-white
Grasp neither pen nor even fists
Fists to pound her rattling breast
And plead with ceding smoke, with True Contrition,
”Mea culpa, mea culpa.
I am not ready. Mea culpa.”
Whitney Crawford
Poet
Whitney was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but currently resides in Virginia, where she is pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology. She is the winner of an honorable mention in the 2023 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, and her poetry and short stories have appeared in various literary journals, including Halfway Down the Stairs and Agape Review.
Photography by Nenad Radojčić