That Fire of Long Ago
Flutter of curtain at night,
descendent of ancient flame
when the house that once stood here
was destroyed by fire
a hundred years ago –
that’s why,
within the gentle rustle,
there are shrieks to be heard
and as I slip slowly into sleep,
all around me
shadows throw themselves
against the windows
in a desperate struggle to escape –
flutter of breath at night,
my body fully rested,
though always with the caveat
that it could wake up as ashes.
The Surviving Side of the Family
Where is Mark?
At the beach rubbing oil into Janet’s fine skin.
And Marcus?
He’s from the extinct side of the family.
He has no blond, American grandchildren.
And Dinah?
She’s buttering the corn.
But Magda looked back like Lot’s wife.
And Lot and his missus have no place
on these rolling Cape Cod dunes.
Not everybody gets to be a snapshot
taken by a cell phone,
send from laptop to laptop
so much faster than the speed of history.
The water is light and salted
and filtered through years of suburban living.
There are no flashes of Jeramiah.
Everyone here can touch their nose
and raise their right hand at the same time.
The family tree may be bare on one side
but, on the other, even the third cousins
are accounted for.
What of Donna?
She’s a painter.
And Cassandra?
She’s married and has children.
The genes are in good hands.
They’re spread across the northeast.
Some have even ventured to the Midwest.
And Chloe’s scrambling eggs.
And Jake has travelled widely.
He’s even been to the old country.
No one there knew it was him.
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Tenth Muse. His latest books, Between Two Fires, Covert, and Memory Outside The Head, are available through Amazon. His work is upcoming in Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Birmingham Arts Journal, La Presa, and Shot Glass Journal.
Sparks of Calliope 