This is an emulation piece based of of Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”
O Mother! my mother! Your fearful trip is done
The drum has pounded every beat, the harp has just begun;
The time has come for us to meet
Comes pleasure from your pain;
But Heart! Your heart! My mother’s heart!
A pool of blood, the devil’s halo surrounds you instead;
Where my beautiful mother lies,
Laying cold and dead.
O Mother! My mother! Awake and hear the cries;
Your new creation, a perfect someone can’t feel your warm embrace;
For you my heart beats, for you my eyes search-
The room in which you met and left the bearer of your life, soul, being;
O mother! My angel!
These fingers that long to feel your warm skin; instead
Meet the cold hands that pry me away from,
You laying cold and dead.
My mother does not answer, her limbs are cold and meak:
My angel finds her place in heaven, leaves me with heart so weak;
Her creation left behind, my body safe and sound;
My mind a wretched sea of pain, tides thrashing thoughts around;
Mourn and forget and adopt new loves
But, I with impending dread,
Live without my protector, mother
Laying cold and dead.