JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

Aladdin, Sinbad, Scheherazade and all that

It was as if

all of his life he’d been stoppered,

some kind of Eau de Genie

in thick green glass

Muttering around inside

was his whole world

in those shadowed rooms

he ate, slept, busied himself

often cleaning the windows

that from time to time let through

a few flickers of sunlight

Blaming his parents

for their lack of vision

in choosing him

from rows of dusty

undistinguished corked bottles

And then some

cheeky youngster rubbed him

innocently

Helooo
is there anyone inside?

You wouldn’t believe what emerged

when the cork blew off

newspapers, shirtsleeves, organ grinders,

orange peel sunsets, beachcombers

chocolate liqueur, waterfalls, poetry,

encyclopedias, the Michelin Man

And it’s not over yet

not by a long way

© Johnmichael Simon

2008

.