JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

They frighten me
black chunks of fear
pouring in through the ceiling of the night
 

I lose you and grope in the choking darkness

And somewhere nearby a baby cries
and cries again

 

I think of earthquake victims
coal miners trapped underground
in a collapsing tunnel
choking to death
and I grope for you, and grope again

 

Words that need to be written
cascade in the dictionaries of my mind
found, I touch your warm cheek,
your warm body, motionless yet alive

 

You stir and like the creature of comfort you are
your words of love enfold me, the light seeps slowly in
the words imperative as life
demand to be written

The night creeps grayly out
the birds clear their distant throats,
begin their sweet familiar chorus of dawn
life wakens again

 

Green buds of spring
push themselves through the earth
and the words write themselves on the page
fight to stay alive