Ben Linder: Child of Wonder -Martyred Clown
Compassion is
A whirlwind, swirling up
Hearts and lives like dry leaves;
Carrying you to toil
Here in these fields
Where anguish is
Nurtured from seed.
Connected. Seamless. Some great goodness.
How
Many of us knew
Your name
Then?
Infrastructure, right? Wasn’t
That it? The why part?
Were you running when
Shrapnel and ignorance tore you
To pieces? Peaces;
Your life leaked out on mud and stones.
The hawk, fatuous
Bird of prey, captivated by his own chromatic
Splendor said you were a traitor. To what cause?
The Biblical child,
Does anyone remember you?
They’re just people
Here. I can hear
It in my soul as if
It was coming
From yours,
So young.
Did God send you here?
Can you ride your unicycle in heaven, Ben?
Please, I need to know…
(By Max Ramsey January 31, 1997)