Five Wonderful Poems by John Drudge

 

Curtains

 

Words in rhythm

And musical notes

In time

In a landscape

Of aspirations

And a loose knitting

Of dreams

The colours of words

And pigments

In the painter’s palette

Dancing in pale movement

Behind the curtain

Where differences dissolve

Into the bright light

Of morning

And the sun marching on

Over the horizon

Husk

 

Time slows

After each stumble

And fall

A little drawn and worn

After sundown

Slipping away

Into this new husk

Of bone on bone

A dry whispering

Of self

Staring into the mirror

No recognition

No reward

Like the rattling

Of sea sand

In this old shell

Waiting

 

Endings and beginnings

Birthdays and funerals

Mark the passage

Of our time

Spent in eager anticipation

And lament

For fresh springs

And new growth

Time spent detached

From our myths

The stories of our undoing

Outside ourselves

As we move

From the meadow

To the riverbank

On a bleak November day

As a sprinkling of snow

Covers the ground

Of our waiting

Waking in Nassau

 

He awoke in the

Morning

With Blackbeard’s flu

Rum runs smooth

Only one way

With the light through

The window

In the small island shack

Over the hill

Lighting the way

To tomorrow’s redemption

Beyond the sway

Of tropical breezes

And of dreams disappearing

Into the stream

Of each coming day

Walking in Pisa

 

Along the river Arno

Under Pisa’s leaning aim

Lost in maritime memories

And the faint vegetal smell

Of mourning

Overwhelmed by frailty

And madness

And the wickedness

Of saints

Reaching upward

Toward redolent skies

And wandering

Over parched alluvial plains

Broken down

And rumpled by sadness

Under a fading

Medici moon

Tagged

With the urban beat

Of the backstreets

And squalling into tomorrow

Without history

Or hope

 

John Drudge is a social worker working in the field of disability management and holds degrees in social work, rehabilitation services, and psychology.

He is the author of three books of poetry: “March” and “The Seasons of Us” (both published in 2019) and New Days (published in 2020). His work has appeared widely in numerous literary journals, magazines, and anthologies internationally.

John is also a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee and lives in Caledon Ontario, Canada with his wife and two children.