J O H N G O D F R E Y
photo Ted Roeder
Everything Beautiful
Buick, big old boat, purrs
Backs into the square of moonlight
where the path is worn
Notice you must the pang
in the air
You hear
a little of bells, a little of hypnosis
I have traced all this to my body
Everything beautiful, and everything
that ever goes wrong
One giant light of green
and one of gold, inject the glow
chosen sky by the city
Tiny Gold Dress
Days so fleet you have to've
seen unruly ones
I do all the time
Someone I soon trust
puts your hand in mine
Just what I'm looking for
Start with the body
and search me
Won't find me sleeping
I dig my six feet
and you stand there in
your tiny gold dress
Can't believe my eyes
Your smile knows
Your ever-so-slight lisp
Ahead of me in the
opposite direction
Big man alerts me
I shed little bits
of chivalry
I caress like one bereaved
Forethought and hindsight
in the flesh
Peanut shells under bed
Lamp nearby of
fire and roses
Ribbons of smoke sketch
momentarily an orchid
Pool Cake
When she sleeps on the floor
When the umbrella blows
into her hand
The whole landslide is missing
She treats me like a conversion
I am a probability
Eclipses her in sheets of snow
How many emotions on
the tines of a fork
Her particular disguise for dust
The haves are equidistant in time
You could say everything is minus that
To those who waken stealthily
Sew up the hat real neat
Frost ascends the blade
Flakes
Muddy plastic spoon
Barefoot on eolas
First they nab the tramp
Words sort and sink
Ash glitters on her collar
Jumpseat vapor smell
She interrupts herself
I too blow smoke
Can't hardly overhear
Farewells then walk alone
Night briefly unwraps
Inevitable hallways
Wavy
Boogaloo
the best you can-can
Time hangs in braids
There is room for
that hip in the
blazing gold drum
Do not hasten
The crosswalk aglow
Maybe learn nothing
Signature footsteps
I know what to do
with the wrong dream
_____________________
JOHN GODFREY
The City Keeps
Wave Books, 2016
Buick, big old boat, purrs
Backs into the square of moonlight
where the path is worn
Notice you must the pang
in the air
You hear
a little of bells, a little of hypnosis
I have traced all this to my body
Everything beautiful, and everything
that ever goes wrong
One giant light of green
and one of gold, inject the glow
chosen sky by the city
Tiny Gold Dress
Days so fleet you have to've
seen unruly ones
I do all the time
Someone I soon trust
puts your hand in mine
Just what I'm looking for
Start with the body
and search me
Won't find me sleeping
I dig my six feet
and you stand there in
your tiny gold dress
Can't believe my eyes
Your smile knows
Your ever-so-slight lisp
Ahead of me in the
opposite direction
Big man alerts me
I shed little bits
of chivalry
I caress like one bereaved
Forethought and hindsight
in the flesh
Peanut shells under bed
Lamp nearby of
fire and roses
Ribbons of smoke sketch
momentarily an orchid
Pool Cake
When she sleeps on the floor
When the umbrella blows
into her hand
The whole landslide is missing
She treats me like a conversion
I am a probability
Eclipses her in sheets of snow
How many emotions on
the tines of a fork
Her particular disguise for dust
The haves are equidistant in time
You could say everything is minus that
To those who waken stealthily
Sew up the hat real neat
Frost ascends the blade
Flakes
Muddy plastic spoon
Barefoot on eolas
First they nab the tramp
Words sort and sink
Ash glitters on her collar
Jumpseat vapor smell
She interrupts herself
I too blow smoke
Can't hardly overhear
Farewells then walk alone
Night briefly unwraps
Inevitable hallways
Wavy
Boogaloo
the best you can-can
Time hangs in braids
There is room for
that hip in the
blazing gold drum
Do not hasten
The crosswalk aglow
Maybe learn nothing
Signature footsteps
I know what to do
with the wrong dream
_____________________
JOHN GODFREY
The City Keeps
Wave Books, 2016
