In a vault we assume tranquility
with dullness a kind of recompense
& labor the effects of a misplaced cause
while sleeping vague amid our roots
have babies the ultimate self-encounter
let’s buy a house! a suburb pricks up its ears
& then the weeks pass into catalogues
& neighbors known for their petty thievery
a venomous park a belligerent sidewalk
a woman swaying and moaning droving her
herd
chipped hands belly seams
a hearse like a butcher cutting off heads
rain on passive grins rooftops saying
their prayers
eyes of blue funk clothes stretched beyond
recognition
finally that old mined-out look scarred
landscape smile
the family have arrived fetch the mortality
About John Grey:
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in California Quarterly, Seventh Quarry, La Presa and Doubly Mad.
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