Letting Go Of What Cannot Be Held Back - Bill Holm

Hello Poets,
We lost Bill Holm, the great Minnesota poet, last year. I still miss him, his love of islands, music and the dark prairie earth. Here's a poem he would want us to remember.
Best,
Sam


Letting Go Of What Cannot Be Held Back

Let go of the dead now.
The rope in the water,
the cleat on the cliff,
do them no good anymore.
Let them fall, sink, go away,
become invisible as they tried
so hard to do in their own dying.
We needed to bother them
with what we call help.
We were the needy ones.
The dying do their own work with
tidiness, just the right speed,
sometimes even a little
satisfaction. So quiet down.
Let them go. Practice
your own song. Now.

by Bill Holm, from Playing the Black Piano, 2004