Wednesday 5 May 2021

2 Poems by J. H. Johns

 TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY”


                                                            Well,
                                                            it’s not a city,
                                                            and
                                                            there is no river,
                                                            but,
                                                            somewhere,
                                                            in, dem, dar,
                                                            near-to-hills,
                                                            there’s a-trouble a-brewing;

                                                            a micro brew
                                                            of two;
                                                            distilling
                                                            what had taken
                                                            years to grow;

                                                            emotional hops
                                                            and
                                                            psychological grains;

                                                            mixed;
                                                            refined-

                                                            and served

                                                            over
                                                            yesterday’s
                                                            expectations…
           

ME AND YOU AND ME

                                                            Me and you and me,
                                                            I mean,
                                                            what else can there be,
                                                            besides,
                                                            me and you and me?


Bionote

J. H. Johns “grew up and came of age” while living in East Tennessee and Middle Georgia.  Specifically, the two places “responsible” for the writer that he has become are Knoxville, Tennessee and Milledgeville, Georgia. Since then, he has moved on to Chicago- for a brief stint- and New York City- for a significantly longer stay.  Currently, he is “holed up” in a small town where when he is not writing, he tends to his “nature preserve” and his “back forty.”  His goal is to surround his house with all sorts of vegetation so as to obscure it from the gaze of the “locals.”  He is assisted in this task by his coonhound buddy and companion, Roma. Most recently, J. H. Johns has appeared in Former People Journal (2), The Five-Two Poetry Journal (6),   Odd Ball Magazine, Syndic Literary Journal (11), The Pangolin Review (Mauritius), Vox Poetica (2), Zombie Logic Review, Grey Sparrow Journal, Muse- An International Journal of Poetry (India), A Virtual Shabbat in Poetry, “A Poets Siddur” Anthology, The Bitchin’ Kitsch (2), The VGP Literate, Literary Orphans, Peeking Cat Poetry (U.K.), Pilcow and Dagger, FishFood Magazine (2), Rat’s Ass Review, The Ibis Head Review, Torrid Literature Journal, Parody Poetry (2), Ygdrasil (Canada), The Poetry Super Highway E-Book (Chapbook) Free-For-All, The Rain, Party & Disaster Society, Poetry Super Highway (2), Pour Vida Zine, The Potomac (2), Foam:e (Australia), Literary Juice, The Lost Coast Review, Syndic Literary Journal- Publisher’s Favorites, ken*again, The East Coast Literary Review, Exercise Bowler, Four and Twenty, Commonline, Danse Macabre Du Jour (2), The West Wind Review, Smokebox, Word Slaw, Wizards of the Wind, Alura, and is forthcoming in The Five-Two.

No comments:

Post a Comment