Fireworks Poem by Whit Leyenberger

When I die it is my wish
That my remainder be packed
Into fireworks and released
Screaming into the night sky

And I want you to be there,
To bear witness as I help fill the darkness
Between the stars for a moment,
These will be my heralds of detonation
My bursting blue orbs trying to touch
Both the earth and the evening and
My great red tendrils spreading wide
Above you, descending so reluctantly

Invite everyone who liked me
To receive all I may have vainly
Refused them, or allowed the
Monolith of words to disarticulate
I have longed to show you these
Flickering crackles of white sparkling
Noise scattering to unlit horizons,
But I could never lose my voice
The imminence of light and the
Jubilation of my burdenless ascent,
Are the only epitaph I desire

Invite everyone who disliked me
So that they may see that my
Distempered chemistry did indeed
Lead to my combustion. Let them
Seethe in my audacity, leave me
Unsettled, increasing from my waste
Pounding down their deliverance.
Not everyone will miss me,
But who doesn't like fireworks

And if any part of this spectacle
Allows you to stand with your face
To the sky lips open and pupils wide
Forgetting everything but breath as
Sensations remold your mortality

Then you will know how I have lived