Three Wonderful Poems by John Drudge

 

At the Arena

 

In Nimes

Blood flows

Deep in the sand

From the brutal truth

Of history

To a barbarian aftermath

Life and death

In the arena

Cages

Of savage spaces

No pity

No compassion

And the spectacle

Of certain cruelty

In the theater

Of our ashes

Brushstrokes

 

How it used to be

Isn’t always

How it’s going to be

On the periphery

Of impressions

Left alone to stand

In front of a blank canvass

Inseparable

From faith and insecurity

To create something solid

From nothing

On a shaped plane

Of observation

And a deeper understanding

Of the sun

 

Untethered

 

A cuadrilla of lament

In the service

Of uncertain angst

Addicted to unrest

Afloat

In rudderless boats

Of injustice

No meaning

No connection

No tether to the shore

Of our truth

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.