Hank Williams’s I Saw The Light
Your day will start at two,
when the phone rings,
in the darkness, in the night.
It will rip through your soul, to the bones and memory.
Confused and alone,
you’ll speak to sobs, just sobs.
I saw the light, I saw the light,
He took off in the middle of night,
drunk and crying
and nobody saw him,
‘cuz they were all drunk
and you’ll fight back curses,
and you’ll fight back tears
‘cuz everybody needs you
now.
no more darkness, no more night.
Someone young found him,
a nephew, maybe a son.
You’ll go to comfort but they won’t say anything.
The wake brings everyone:
cousins, uncles, nieces, nephews, rumored kin.
Speak a few words, the same you said around the fire.
You don’t speak what’s in your heart
because now that he’s gone,
there isn’t anything left to sing,
there isn’t anything left that’s right.
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight.
You’ll console your mom, but she’ll cry
for years and years.
And now that you’re safe back at home,
safely away from all those eyes
you’ll think of him and all those times.
Think of your brother
and how the ground swallowed him up
and holds him tight
Praise the lord I saw the sight.
~ Daniel N. Poitras
Daniel N. Poitras has been involved in the Honour Songs project, been a finalist in the 2007’s CBC Poetry Face Off, won the Grant MacEwan College’s Edmonton Voices, where he was paired with the very helpful and talented Diane Buchanan. Some of his greatest moments was performing for American Slam Poet Jack McCarthy at the 2007 Roar and a reading with Marilyn Dumont at the U of A resistance writing. Daniel is an active member of Poet’s Ink and has been known to frequent The Raving Poets. Daniel still resides in Edmonton struggling to be a full time writer.
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