Four Wonderful Poems by Jason de Koff

 

The Summoning

 

Rays of unforgotten sunshine

burn through the gray-bottomed clouds

and across the vast snow blankets

spread liberally to the horizon.

 

The remembered warmth

of golden hour afternoons

flood the vacant landscape

and its cold, dead stare

with the valkyries’ shields shining

from above.

 

The pleasant heat of taverns

give grace to the hearthstones

emanating a powerful radiance

and eschewing the long nights

and knives found without.

 

These remembrances come quickly

to bolster the soul

against the dread of another day’s dawning.

Where the sights are nothing to see,

the sounds are but dull repetitions,

and the written words never seem to dry.

 

 

Developing Resistance

 

The conflagration of birds,

with their metallic luster,

projected their shrill cries

to the vacant stare

of the setting sun.

Mechanical orbs festooned the sky

in fullerene configurations

and reflected the aging sky

into the resolute faces

hidden among nearby slag hills.

As the final drop of ink

dispelled across the horizon

darker shapes, covered in rough cloth,

moved from hill to plain,

dragging their hope along

with rusted cannonry.

Reaching the laser array,

they stood facing its muted glow,

transfixed by its beauty

and the horror held within.

Moments of stillness

held in hypnotic fixation,

these bonds soon broken

by the cannon blast belching plasma

as the invaded became invaders.

 

 

The Eye of the Beholder

 

Breaking the boundary

between inner warmth and the outer chill

brings horseradish inhalations,

breathtaking and invigorating.

 

A shining world of snow

where sharp edges are softened

and frozen perfection

takes many forms.

 

The tall foreboding pines

create soft thick beds

from the pointed needles

they grow and give away.

 

And the distant peaks

either hold the soft glow of sunset

upon their lofty cloud-covered heights

or cut harsh outlines amid backdrops of blue.

 

Wood smoke scents percolate

across miles of thin air,

tantalizing and teasing

but unable to tell more.

 

But the eagles that tiptoe

across cloud-covered skies

engage the greatest perspective

and know the secrets we’ve yet to behold.

 

 

The Amazon Swallowed

 

Mosquitoes drink blood shakes,

with platelet fillers,

satisfying the absence,

of maltodextrin additives.

 

Brackish water initiates games,

of hide-and-seek,

as passing clouds create camouflage,

for imagined horrors.

 

Dense waterway foliage,

hides the authors of,

nearby thunder calls,

and dismemberment cracklings.

 

The dugout,

appears smaller than before,

with ankle-deep water,

ever rising.

 

Drifting to the edge,

grabbing knife and tattered courage,

the jungle lurched forward and,

I meet my fate head-on.

Jason de Koff is an associate professor of agronomy and soil science at Tennessee State University.  He lives in Nashville, TN with his wife, Jaclyn, and his two daughters, Tegan and Maizie.  His chapbook, “Words on Pages”, is currently available on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3eookJk

Twitter: @JasonPdK3