Sylvia

I hear they have placed
A pretty blue plaque
High above your flat
So tourists can find you
And say this is the spot
Where you killed yourself.
Lucky girl, you modern Sappho
To take the quantum leap
Like a comet to take your place
Among the darkest regions of empty space
With a brilliance that few can keep
And even less the mind to know
Where no dull planet can perturb you
As fallen flowers have no faces.

Clinton Van Inman is 65, was born in Walton-on-Thames, England, and graduated from San Diego State University in 1977 with a degree in philosophy. (DonÕt laugh, so did TS Eliot) He still works as a high school teacher in Tampa. One of the few last standing Beat poets, he is trying to get a collection of poems together for future publication called, ÒFar From OutÓ or ÒOne Last Beat.Ó Recent publications include the Tower Journal, Essence, The Warwick, Journal of Victorian Poetry, Yes Poetry, Poetry, Out of Four, and Black Cat Poetry. Some of his poems have been recently read on YouTube by Janet K. of Down in the Dirt magazine, which publishes many of his poems.

Find more by Clinton Van Inman in the Author Index.

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