The Ferryman
written by: David L Painter
The silent ribbons of dead men’s songs curl upward
like green vapor from a nameless lake.
for the dead have no voice.
Neither tree
nor branch leaves a trace on this barren place.
A copper-colored sun glows overhead.
Permeating odors of nothingness fill my nostrils.
The only sound, is the ferryman’s pole
and it is just a ripple,
no more than the sound of a departing soul.
This is the way we go about dying
waiting for the ferryman to tend to our souls.
His strong hands demand a token
and obolus to mark our passing.
David Painter is a Northeast Ohio poet and photographer. His aim is to capture his point of view on the world through nature, culture, architecture and history. Dave’s love for photography began in the 1970s with the purchase of his first Minolta SLR camera. Through his keen eye, Dave became a member of the Cleveland Photographic Society and the Chagrin Valley Photography Guild. For the last decade, Dave has added poetry to his creative repertoire. Expanding his interests to the human condition, fiction and history; his favorite era being the Civil War. Much of Dave’s poetry is inspired by his photography; the perfect marriage of his two passions. Dave is a member of many poetry groups including Allegory Alley, Scribbles Writing Organization, Poems and Unpoems, Writers Writing Poems and Out of Your Write Mind. Additionally, he is active in The Pixel Photography Club and the local historical society. Dave was born and raised in Charleston, W.V. but has made the Greater Cleveland area his home for the past fifty years. He is married with two kids.
Latest posts by David L Painter (see all)
- The Valley of the Sun Bear - September 2, 2024
- The Fairy Tree - March 22, 2024
- Memoirs of a Green Skiff - September 27, 2023
