Tomorrow, September 1, marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of my favorite author: Edgar Rice Burroughs, father of Tarzan, chronicler of Barsoom and Pellucidar, and the man whose stories helped teach me to read and made me want to become a writer myself.
In celebration I thought it might be appropriate to share a poem in tribute to Burroughs that I wrote roughly 20 years ago now…
IN MEMORIAM: ERB
A Poem By John Allen Small
With simple words on paper
He drew a map that led me
On a pathway to adventure:
From Africa and Hell's Bend
Past the moon, Mars and Venus
To Beyond the Farthest Star
And a Land that Time Forgot
And back again.
Along the way
He introduced me to friends
Who helped teach me about
Bravery and honor;
And although they exist
Only in imagination,
Their spirits walk beside me
As I travel through this life.
It's a long, long way
From Opar to Barsoom...
But not so far
As from Kankakee to Tishomingo,
I think.
(Copyright 2015 by John Allen Small)