John Grey - Issue 35

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Shift, River And South and Flights. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Levitate, Writer’s Block and Trampoline.

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FROM THE HEIGHTS OF POETRY TO THE

LOWS OF REALITY

From a mountaintop, 

I bring you flowers,

buffeted and swirled,

fueled with the passion 

of the heights,

so put them in water,

here in the low country,

cool the sweat from

their stalks and petals,

freshen them up

until they don’t know they’re dying.

THE LAMBING AND THE LOVING

If I strive for the survival 

of one scrawny, weakened lamb,

will you then love me?

If, day and night, I feed it the bottle,

calm its shaking head with the palm of my hand,

does my caring and kindness translate

into something more than just my face,

my hair, my body, my personality, 

how much I earn, what I do for a living?

Yes it’s me, in the barn, 

on the site of a premature birthing.

My fingers thread his tiny curls,

rub his nubs of horn.

Come in and watch,

Feel free to decipher what I do.

SKIP’S STORY

His father gave him a beating.

for getting kicked out of school.

So he left home.

He crashed on a friend’s floor

and worked as a cook 

in a fast food restaurant.

Then, on a whim,

he just tossed in

what little he had going for him

and went off to see the country.

He was out there

in the backroads of Missouri

for at least a week,

near-starving and sleeping 

in railyards and behind dumpsters.

The way back home 

was filled with regret, humiliation,

and the lingering sting 

of that beating.

His father greeted him 

like a prodigal son

and they got drunk together

in a kitchen full of tears.

What a couple they made –

a brute of a hand and a sore ass.

But the old man, at least,

had a check coming.