Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

A Charcoal Ring
every time
the man who used to raise me
sees a bluebird or a flower or
something beautiful
he thinks of the woman he once loved.

every time
i see a cyprus tree and
decide to climb it
i think of you.

oh,
to catch a glimpse of the world beneath a different sky

to know
that every time the man who used to raise me
sees an elderly couple on a park bench
or a child with her mother on the swings
he will think of her

to know
that every time I look at a fallen beehive
or an open casket
i will think of you

you asked me to think of you
before you found my ring
that always stayed a
charcoal black
but is now a royal blue

i wish you could see without your glasses
the pair that is tossed aside
deep within the forest
next to the tree that we used to climb
next to the fallen beehive

i should have told you then
that you were my best friend

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