I wouldn’t write at
all if it weren’t for myriad writers before me whose works showed me what was
possible. The poems of this series are small offerings of respect, of thanks,
to those muses. – Brian Beatty
Denis
Johnson
Nights
I had too many beers
I would
declare war on streetlights
the
color of those Tibetan salt rock lamps
new-agers
now claim ease tension.
Please. Respect my fear and intelligence.
I’ve
slept off nothing. Passing trains
rattled
the faux wood walls of my studio apartment
with
outdoor furniture dragged upstairs,
trains
clacking louder than any gun.
Undergrads queued up to die along those
same tracks.
– Brian Beatty
 |
| Incognito Lounge |
Learn more:
- - - -
Brian's most recent collections of poetry are Dust and Stars: Miniatures and Brazil, Indiana. Don't miss Brian's columns on the great poets: insert your email address in the "Follow By Email" box to the right of this article and you'll be notified every time a new article appears.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDenis Johnson's stories and poems remind me every time I read them that literature is the written articulation of our humanity. That's what I wrote in my first comment, only with too many words.
ReplyDelete