In Memoriam 2015: BB King

I rode bulls and water-skied with Lightning Hopkins
(his women wore pistols around their waists).
I sang “Purple Rain” in an empty bar
beneath the flash of blue and red lights.
I’ve bent notes on a six string guitar.
I’ve made the end of a bottleneck cry.
I’ve done time in the caverns of my mind.
I’ve faced the throne of death
and looked it in the eye.
Long ago, I launched a kite into the sky.
It was held up by a big wind and tugged at my hand.
It ran out of string and I watched it go.

He heard the wail of a train
He heard the sound of the rain.
He heard his mother cry:
“Blues Boy, why do you roam
so far from your home?”
With dust in his eyes,
he looked up at the sky:
“I can tell you only this.
I’ll find my way to Heaven.
I’ll build a bridge to bliss.”
One day, illness and age
carried him away.
With sleep in his eyes,
he looked up at the sky:
“I can tell you only this.
I’ll find my way to Heaven.
I’ll build a bridge to bliss.”
.