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Braver Man
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Looking to the Light He lived hard
Lived fast
But luck was
Rarely his
He got hurt
Many times
And with time
The pain grew
Till one day
He did do
Some act I
Could never do
Took a gun
With one shot
Stopped the pain
Made it end
That I could
Never do
He was
A braver man
To of my favorite
Two of my favorite writers---Talhaiarn (bardic name of the Welsh poet, John Jones) and the science fiction writer, Walter Miller, Jr.---both blew their brains out to end their lives. Though each had come upon tragic circumstances, and I can understand---a bit---of the despair (having passed through such a horrible time in 1981), I cannot see the suicide as an act of bravery. Your very short lines work well here; a longer line might weaken the emotional effect of the poem. And the poem is haunting (I do not usually consider these issues at 6:25am). But, with no disrespect intended, I still question the last line.
Starward