Member Poetry

it was

the Devil You Know tour 

with Ronnie James Dio,

Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler

and Vinnie Appice—

the greatest Black Sabbath

line-up.

we had fantastic seats 

up front,

to the right of the stage.

anytime there was a lull,

i’d yell “Die Young,”

my favorite Black Sabbath

song.

midway through the show,

Dio looked me square

in the eye, pointed

and yelled, “This song 

is dedicated 

to that crazy motherfucker

right there,” 

and the spotlight shone

on me.

“Die Young,”

he screamed

and put up 

the devil horns.

it was a true

rock and roll moment—

ranking up there

with meeting Gordon Downie,

having a drink with Chris Cornell,

and passing a joint to Warren Zevon

at the Edmonton Folk Festival.

ahh, dying young.

and by damn,

a few months later

Dio went and did

just that.

in fact,

they all

did.