Source: Bravewords.com

Best known for his innovative and unique guitar work with YES and FLASH, as well as his own critically acclaimed solo albums, guitar legend PETER BANKS passed away at his home in London on March 8th.

Former BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has written a poem in his memory.

Says Ward: “Because of the seemingly bleak circumstances and limited information about the death of Peter Banks, I reacted quite sadly to the news and felt driven to write this poem.

A Poem for Peter Banks

How can this be
I didn’t plan for it to be like this
Mine was a far more grandiose end.
Aloneness in life
Aloneness in death
Who will say a kind word,
Have I pushed you all away, so much I cannot be recognized
Will no one stand for me, now, in these moments of closure, and passing.
It isn’t cold anymore,
And hunger has left me
My predicaments still undone in life, are somehow in death solved.

I can no longer hear silence, is there no one to champion me
One voice will be enough
I’m worth something, it’ll mean everything to me
Dark shadows betray me not, seek another in ruin, to commit your slanderous verbiage upon
Leave me, rant and drag down and complete your next victim’s demise
Your emptiness is un-radiant.

No matter what I’ve done
Or who I became
When one voice speaks
The loneliness cannot circle me
When one voice validates me
I can rest in peace”