We couldn’t get in
To visit you.
You were in the place
Where it’s serious.
We waited outside of
The inside window,
Hoping to get a chance
To wave to you.
No one could see you.
No visitors allowed.
We waited for your death
To be announced.
Where would the
Take the body
You no longer needed.
Did any of them know
How much you meant
To us?
Finally, we got the chance
To wave to you.
We could tell
You knew.
They were busy
Trying to save others
From the sinking ship.
You were no more.
You had become cargo
To be moved
Out of the way
To make room
For the others dying.
We cried our tears,
Then went away
To finish our own time
On this overwhelmed planet.
John Garmon is a writing assistant at the College of Southern Nevada, Vegas. His poems have been in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Radius, Quartet, Aji, Commonweal, Southern Humanities Review, Oyster River Pages, South Dakota Review, and many other places.
Cynthia Yatchman is a Seattle based artist and art instructor. With an M.A. in child development and a B. A. in education, she has a strong interest in art education and teaches art to adults, children and families in Seattle. A former ceramicist, she studied with J.T. Abernathy in Ann Arbor, MI. After receiving her B.F.A. in painting from the University of Washington, she switched from 3D art to 2D and has stayed there since, working primarily on paintings, prints, and collages. Her art is housed in numerous public and private collections and has been shown nationally in California, Connecticut, New York, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon and Wyoming. She has exhibited extensively in the Northwest, including shows at Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, Shoreline Community College, the Tacoma and Seattle Convention Centers, and the Pacific Science Center. She is an affiliate member of Gallery 110 and is a member of the Seattle Print Art Association and COCA (Center of Contemporary Art).