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Two poems by J.David

J.David

Newhalem Flow / photo by D. Enck
Newhalem Flow / credit: de

the cemetery that was ash

It was the last day of summer  /  when the church cemetery
became ashes  /  as it burned  /  schools of people gathered

old men and women  /  curious mothers and children
that night  /  the pastor  /  locked himself in the study

and wept  /  so loudly  /  the walls began to peel
like love-me-not petals  /  or burning flesh

two men from the newspaper  /  came the next day
wearing big straw hats  /  and knocked at the door

the pastor  /  refused to open  /  stood at the door
palms sweating  /  teeth chattering the way

shingles  /  shake  /  in a storm—
trembling

he whispered
“do you think the dead judge us?”

he went  /  later  /  among the charred headstones
and began to dig

when the town arrived for Sunday Mass  /  they found him
clothes torn  /  covered in ashes  /  abandoned in a grave

of his own making  /  clutched in his palm  /  a note saying only
“they’re gone  /  all of them  /  to nowhere at all.”

 
 

Leaving through the back door

I tell my mother I am going to die soon
& she becomes
a field of poppies
a garden of tulips
a pearl
tucked beneath the tongue
of an oyster

*

it’s not that I’m afraid to be a late
bloomer mama
I’m afraid I won’t bloom at all

*

I named you myself—
child of calamity
halfway between a boy
& a bruise
rattle in the wind-song
opals nested in elbows
almost wings

*

I am aching mama
I say “this is my body”
and it sounds like a broken promise

*

When I fell into this well there were already bones
buried under bones
I built this ladder of them
filled my pockets with them
ate them until I was full

*

it was the poems that saved me
mama
I swear it

*

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J.David

J.David is from Cleveland, Ohio; likes Phoebe Bridgers; and hopes to one day become lovely.

Author: J.David Tags: poetry Category: Poetry May 11, 2018

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Comments

  1. William Patterson says

    May 18, 2018 at 7:37 am

    Especially enjoyed “the cemetery that was ash”. I see a different image each time I read it.

    Reply
  2. Fred LaMotte says

    May 16, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    Leaving through the back door is a poem I will return to again and again. Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Sam Silva says

    May 12, 2018 at 6:45 am

    I like these very much. Every word matters!

    Reply

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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