Five Poems by John Drudge

 

Dreams

 

Running through fields

And the fullness

Of nature

The geography

Of our beginnings

Our becoming

The loves

That come and go

And pulse in us still

The thick clothing

That we wear

Each day

To search our own skin

For sensation

Seeking the fullness

Of desire

To kiss the toil

Of dreams

Edges of Paradise

 

We touch

The sun

And move toward

Tomorrow

Each movement

A flickering

To be judged

In increments

A smirk beyond hiding

With a betrayal

In the eyes

Reflections of desire

Somewhere

Deep in the essence

Of who we think

We are

Screaming

Over the echoes

Of a misshapen something

Dying

On the edges of paradise

Into the Trees

 

Lost

In the anaesthesia

Of self-knowledge

With a deep

And savage need

To survive

Growing

Into the pockets

Of my memories

Of a simpler time

Of joy

And pleasure

And expectations

Drifting

On a slow rising breeze

Into the trees

With the sound

Of the rain

Dancing

Trigger Warning

 

Life

Is supposed to

Trigger you

That’s how we survive

Not by hiding

Under waves

Of avoidance

Under the rocks

Of our fear

Not by running

From the fight

And twisting

From the truth

Life

Is supposed

To drag you down

To the depths

Of it all

And leave you gasping

In awe

At each fresh

Sunrise

Undone

 

Lost in a dream

That’s already over

We are no more

Than our own

Peculiar poetry

Moving to the rhythms

Of our own tired breath

Finding antecedents

In every morning sun

On a tilted world

Seeking shelter

In love

Before the goodbyes

Of tomorrow

Grace our days

And we lose our shadows

In the shade

And inevitably

Come undone

 

John Drudge - John 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 four books of poetry: “March” (2019), “The Seasons of Us” (2019), New Days (2020), and Fragments (2021). 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.