by Stephen Klugewicz

Dear “The Gift”

An Ode to Bruce Springsteen

 

In a world of oaths forsaken,

In a time of prophets bought and sold,

To the faithful along the avenue

You offered a gift of the purest gold.

 

Politician declares, “So help me God,”

Priest proclaims, “Let no man put asunder.”

But your whispered sweet sounds,

Were a bond sealed with thunder.

 

At once a stranger and yet a friend,

At once young and always old,

Singing the silent song of our souls,

Like that between mute lovers in the cold.

 

Now years are dissolved into dust,

Into the wind, into the mist.

Meaning made deep by memory,

Like a lover long and tenderly kissed.

 

You might have gone forever home,

You might have instead quietly slept,

Leaving us alone, betrayed and broken.

But you proved the gift a promise kept.

You proved the gift a promise kept.