The Quiet One (for Beatle George)
They met him on the local bus, just
Local boys not knowing they were bound
For glory, greatness, and here was
The one to always ask for less
The quiet one, who worked hard on his lines
Holding his own above the fuss
For years they kept him to the wings
Without stage mark or microphone
Rising to harmonize but not to sing
Saturn's dark sun, its self-effacing child
Of Krishna, kept strong by belief
Sharing his heart, looking for inner light
It was more difficult to hold
To keep that faith when all around
Of his small frame it rained, the arrogance
Intrusion, all the slights and checks
Of his kind and careless friends
Advice on what and where and how to play
And when the dam burst and the songs poured down
The rivers he had stored, the chants suppressed
In deference rang quiet and strong, the hum
Of new contentment in his mind, the sign
To cultivate his garden and his son
Discovered footsteps in that quiet time
When cancer is held back, in check
And has not come again, not yet
To take the life on which it once laid claim
He thought back to those years, he said
They gave their screams, the Beatles gained insight
And gave their nervous systems in exchange.
poem by Frank Bana
Added by Poetry Lover
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