The Cigar Box, a Poem By Sy Roth

in it lay the residue of a life,
the ashes of a man:
a Willy Mays baseball card;
tickets to Woodstock, 1969
Santana performing “Soul Sacrifice”;
an I-Like-Ike campaign pin;
two red rubber bands,
and a small picture,
2x4 inches,
of a little girl in pigtails atop a pony.

a dragon-etched logo adorned
the Ma’Haya-brand cigar box
announcing that it had once contained
the world’s most expensive handmade cigars,
a box of 25 costing the smoker twelve dollars
the khakied-patina surrounded it,
well-worn by the owner’s toting it around
and caressing it often.

opening the box released
the faint tobacco aroma
and with it a peaceful warmth.
one second worthless junk.
meaning nothing it found the junk pile,
then returned to the shelf
unreleasable.

little girl in pigtails nestled there between things loved
and she could not be tossed so cavalierly
nor could his memory.

Retired after forty-two years as teacher/school administrator, Sy Roth resides in Mount Sinai, far from Moses and the tablets. This has led him to find words for solace. He spends his time writing and playing his guitar. He has published in many online publications such as The Circle Review, Toucan, Wilderness Interface Zone, Red Ochre, Bong is Bard, Danse Macabre, Mel BraKe Press, Larks Fiction Magazine, Exercise Bowler, Otoliths, BlogNostics, Every Day Poets, brief. One of his poems, “Forsaken Man,” was selected for Best of 2012 poems in Storm Cycle. Twice selected Poet of the Month in Poetry Super Highway. His work was also read at Palimpsest Poetry Festival in December 2012. He was named Poet of the Month for the month of February in BlogNostics. Included in Poised in Flight anthology published by Kind of Hurricane Press, March 2013. A Murder of Crows was named Poem of the Week in Toucan.

Copyright 2013 © Sy Roth. This work is protected under the U.S. copyright laws. It may not be reproduced, reprinted, reused, or altered without the expressed written permission of the author.