A Poem Titled 1942, by Richard Brautigan, Published in 1968

By Richard Brautigan, from The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, published 1968.

1942

Piano tree, play
in the dark concert halls
of my uncle,
twenty-six years old, dead
and homeward bound
on a ship from Sitka,
his coffin travels
like the fingers
of Beethoven
over a glass
of wine.

Piano tree, play
in the dark concert halls
of my uncle,
a legend of my childhood, dead,
they send him back
to Tacoma.
At night his coffen
travels like the birds
that fly beneath the sea,
never touching the sky.

Piano tree, play
in the dark concert halls
of my uncle,
take his heart
for a lover
and take his death
for a bed,
and send him homeward bound
on a ship from Sitka
to bury him
where I was born.

(I remember reading some Brautigan in 1969 and on, but only recently I read this poem, which mentions Tacoma and which I like very much.)