Ashes on Water by Terry Tierney

Watching his color drain,

I recall the brown river,

rusty film of steel mills and cracked oil

coating the water, caking on windows,

sticking to soles of our shoes.

Acres of perch floating belly up.

One day the river catches fire.

Dirty rose sunset over city,

wild flames climb the hills,

blowing down in orange rings,

clogging streams with dead trees,

lungs coughing acid smoke,

the dust of lives.

Pink river of phlegm

carving new channels down his chin.

Drying his lips with cotton balls,

the sweet metallic scent,

steel roses burning.

That day roofing my house,

his hand gripping hammer,

oily smell of nails, tar, and sweat,

cigarettes glowing after dusk,

thirsting for a better ending.

Under a blood orange sun,

Cane Creek rolls with pink flecks,

yellow pine dust clogs the air.

They spill his ashes above the falls,

rushing cold and clear.

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Terry’s collection of poetry, The Poet’s Garage, was published by Unsolicited Press in May 2020. His poems and stories have recently appeared in Typishly, The Mantle, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Front Porch Review, Jersey Devil Press, The Lake and other publications. Lucky Ride (Unsolicited Press), an irreverent Vietnam-era road novel, is set to release in 2021. His website is https://terrytierney.com.