POEM from William Sovern
FIRE

i have a line in a well
worn poem that reverberates
“i will set my art work on fire”
it is pure metaphor
it was a political statement

Billy Bowles fire was accidental
an accident of posture
too much cheap beer & a
neglected cigarette ash
ignited the contents of Billy
Bowles invisible mobile home
cocooned inside a 130 year old
two block long trolley repair
shop that had been transformed
into Bohemian paradise
it was a breathtaking fire
all the TV stations were there
Billy Bowles & Elvis the dog
didn’t make it out
Hannah’s ceramic studio
didn’t make it out
Bart’s metal shop
didn’t make it out
the drum kit didn’t
make it out I played
it bad anyway
but the dreams made it out

Fire is omnipresent
you can’t pick it up and
you can’t play ball with it
But fire is in my poets soul
my photography friend Scott
took pictures of it
he set fire to your libido
he set fire to the straw
house of your prudence
Scott worked for the same
company for thirty years
was married to the same
women for twenty-six years
backed the same baseball team
for twenty years
i went with Sarah to say goodbye
Scot had photographed Sarah
he set Sarah on fire
the embers will never cool
tonight I will set my art work on fire

tonight I will set my art work on fire

tonight I will set my art work on fire

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Artist/Poet, William Sovern, has produced & hosted over 200 Art/Musical/Poetry events in the Evansville, Indiana area. He is currently Host of the Tuesday Night Reading Series which promotes local, regional & national poets. Sovern is also the founder of the nationally known performance poetry group, Shakespeare's Monkey, & his art work is in private collection throughout the United States.