Honorable Mention: 2024 Philadelphia Stories Poetry Contest
When Prince sings I Would Die 4 U
I know he’s singing the number 4,
the capital letter U, and I believe
there are things worth dying for.
I can hear their chopped off heads trailing
behind Prince’s motorcycle
waiting for the moment they bounce
together and kiss inside a cloud of exhaust.
His motorcycle is a storm,
a purple nebula flashing
magnetized lighting in the distant reaches
of space, where his light is travelling
still, untouched by death. I would die
for just about anything large enough
to love so easily: Your hair.
The taste of dehydration. The idea of you
towering above the actual me.
Your head mouths a letter
and then an alphabet.
Your head spells a word, rain.
Or was it pain?
Prince is touching down,
one wheel, then the other
kisses the ground. I want to warn him
that it’s too late, ask you
to help me lift him back into the sky
before history catches up,
but I don’t see you anymore.
And it’s not too late. You say
there’s more beyond each beheaded
word, outside the constellations
of hurt. As the elevator doors close
Prince says something about going crazy.
He’s still alive, his motorcycle still dragging
the future behind it like a parade.
Von Wise received his MFA for Creative Writing from Florida International University. He teaches English composition and creative writing in Philadelphia, where he lives.