August 29, 1877
One afternoon, in Salt Lake City,
beloved Brigham Young
lay sick in bed, set to return
to God from Whom he’d sprung.
Since Brigham was so popular,
some put a written sign
upon the Tabernacle’s door
giving news of his decline:
“Twelve o’clock—the President
is growing very ill.”
“One o’clock—the President
is sinking lower still.”
“Two o’clock—the President
cannot raise his head.”
“Three o’clock—the President
we’re sad to say is dead.”
A gentile passed by Temple Square
when it was nearly night,
he read the news, then looked around—
there was no one in sight.
He pulled a pencil from his pocket
and jotted a quick note.
Then, he continued on his way.
This is what he wrote:
“Six o’clock—the President
hasn’t yet appeared
in Heaven or its neighborhood,
the very worst is feared.”
D. A. Cooper is a poet and writer from Houston, TX. Besides Irreantum, his work has recently appeared in The ARCH-HIVE, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Light, Lighten Up Online, New Verse Review, Reformed Journal, Ships of Hagoth, The Society for Classical Poets, and Texas Poetry Assignment, among others. He enjoys translating dialect poetry from Italy, watching The Office, and looking at trees.
