JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

domed cities / children cling / shoveled in cramped places / away from mother / earth / softness forgotten / metallic / days / neon / concrete beds / no springs

 

of water / or moss / for these children / bodies washed/ by soapless chemicals / with unpronounceable contents / cleansed and astringent / huddling in caffeine / cubicles /

 

glossy voices / chatter from prefabricated / walls / informing of / distant warfare / body counts / next season’s / plastic sheath colors / daily dance of / debits and credits /

 

once a year / a trip / to the great outside / mountains loom / brown rivers / garish flowers mutants / unidentified / animals howl / they / in insulated clothing / heads bent / to screens

 

hard wired / see only / messages / drum beats / amplify / their blood / at night / they pursue clanking / demons / battle / digital devils / wielding swords

 

and sometimes / wakened by a sound / perhaps a whiff / of loam / or cow dung / they dream / of mother earth / how she might / have been / when she was young