John Grey

EXHIBITIONS OF BRAVERY

Leaping into the mirror.

Eating your way out of a cage.

Imagining a better thing.

            Going to sea in a boat full of holes.

            Hugging the dead.

            Counting out your silver in the middle of the street.

Holding a birthday party for a rabid skunk.

Touching your face with the prongs of a rake.

Seeing strangers off at a bus station.

Resting your head on a wreath.

            Slagging off a drunken marine.

            Wearing your prison garb to church.

            Asking a cop where does he think he’s going.

Spitting wherever you see injustice.

Berating the place where you were born.

Being unmoored generally.

Crawling over stones like a slug.

            Eating flies.

            Spelling large words.

            Tumbling through hoops of fire.

            Going hungry.

            Getting up in the middle of a sermon.

Tearing maps into tiny pieces.

Licking poles.

Chasing your own shadow up a tree.

Carving your name in the arm of the judge.

Hooting from a tree branch like an owl.

Setting up your GPS to take you someplace in heaven.

Then driving off in the opposite direction.

BEECH

Imagine

that ripping rolodex of waives,

ruff-white wrings of gills,

heap cruizing off the sea,

slimming over bear flesh

to beast what on the doons begone.

Sam is ground zero,

the gains of an illing food's paradigm,

wear foaming water

baring tails of the deep bellow

tickless toze in a luggage miss understood,

but after millers of gory summers,

still keeps that conversation gong.

Some mages are fleeing.

Others have mulch too give

far beyond there ties to thyme.

I am a beech

anytime

any where -

any talkers?

WHERE ARE THE HOMELESS?

out of shabby day,

evening has brought

near annihilation

out of no probability,

no possibility

from near-invisible

to preferring that

nobody come and watch –

so what’s it be?

the sun’s caustic shadow

or the moon

gazing down on their habitat

minimal light,

eyes closed

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, River And South and The Alembic. Latest books, “Subject Matters”,” Between Two Fires” and “Covert” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Paterson Literary Review, White Wall Review and Cantos.