Shy boy, the framed photo on your headstone made me cry 

sweet dark-haired stranger, head bowed, eyes lowered 

your gentle smile made me wonder how your life 

was cut short at the start of young adulthood 

had you left home to study or travel with friends; did you play

in a band with mates you loved and who loved you back? 

Did you meet your sweetheart? You held me

graveside, sweet boy, 

and decades since 

your smile 

remains.

---

Janina Aza Karpinska draws on many influences and writes in a variety of styles, with poetry published in: London Reader; Magma; Ekphrastic Review; Drawn to the Light; Heron Tree; Lit Shark; Cold Signal; Epistemic Lit, Midwest Zen, and Raising the Fifth, amongst others. She lives on the south coast of England.