Stone Bouquets

Per instructions in contest:
Include a short note within your item or in your forum post answering the following questions:

* Which particular line really resonated with you?

After reading The Hollow Men I wrote the following piece. The words of Eliot’s poem particularly touched a note in my soul:

“Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men”

* How did the poet's style influence your own?

Eliot's free-verse style inspired me to attempt yet another of these. While there is no way that I could emulate such a great poet as Eliot, I have yet again sought to find a way to let his work inspire me.

* What is the connection between the poet's poem and your own?

When Eliot spoke of death, it made me think of the hollow monuments that we as hollow men build to the dead.

In the garden of the dead
cold stone flowers bloom.
Blossoms that cannot sway
in the breeze
nor waft sweet fragrance.
These flowers need no tending;
neither water nor sunlight.
They fail to grow or deteriorate.
Timeless sentinels,
granite garlands for the living,
as the dead have no need
to know where they rest.
These regal flora face eternity
in testament of loved ones
who previously
walked, breathed, laughed, and dreamed.
Beloved who danced and sang once .


Now, they are as silent
as the marble bouquets
that mark their passing.