A Poem in Honor of Poe: A Life of Its Own

In honor of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, Berkeley Patch is proud to share a poem from Berkeley poet John Rowe — who also happens to be celebrating his own birthday today.

Rowe is a Berkeley native who graduated from Berkeley High School and, aside from a few college years in San Diego, has always lived within walking distance of his favorite local street — Solano Avenue. Rowe is active in the Bay Area poetry community and has been long-time president of the Bay Area Poets Coalition (BAPC). He is also co-editor of BAPC's POETALK magazine. 

A Life of Its Own

Something in the poem I’ve written

stands alone,

so it goes out into the world where it will meet

a destitute man with the eyes of Buddha

or step carefully around sidewalk chalk drawings

made by little girl with cat at her side

or spend quiet days in the library

folded between the pages

of a dusty anthology of famous poets. 

It will have a life of its own

until one day in the future

I’ll sit on the sofa and there the poem will be,

as if the traveling salesman

who sold my mother brushes and combs years ago

never left our house,

yet despite the pockets full of old words

I could swear he is wearing a new coat

because new words come to me in reverence

for how a concentrated creation of time

expands like music

and all the separate parts follow a circular path

of discovery and reconnection.

Do you have a poem to share? Email berkeley@patch.com or post it in the comments.

What is your favorite Poe piece? Let us know in the comments.