Four Poems by David Alec Knight

 

Growing Up With Detroit Channels

 

I loved Detroit  

I watched WGPR:

Doctor Who and Dark Shadows

were on every day after school.

 

I loved Detroit  

I watched WXON:

Kung fu films on Friday nights

provided action, poorly dubbed.

 

I loved Detroit  

I watched WKBD:

Creature Feature Saturdays,

Robert Plant's wailing voice in the lead-in.

 

I loved Detroit

when I was young,

turning the dial

and taken away.

 

 

Mornings We Ran

 

I remember running

(when I used to run)

decades ago distant.

 

Early opaque mornings

we would run together

hold conversation between

us, this pretty vibrant

Somali woman and I.

 

Along that Detroit River

on the Windsor side we ran,

trading mutually furtive glances,

sometimes at pace with the flow.

 

I cared for her, so much

more deeply than she may

have at first intended --

more deeply than I may have

had a right to do, but then

she may have liked who I was

more than I had deserved.

 

These days, my knees shot,

I can only dream

of running.

 

 

Karen In The Wild

Is it that I

wore a mask

among a crowd that didn't

(gasp!) --

is it that I

wore a heavy metal t-shirt

at my age

(shock!) --

is it that I

wore a chain

around my neck without cross

(terror!) --

or, is it that I

was merely a man with his son

crossing your path in a store

on a bad day for you

that made you act like

such a...

Karen?

 

 

Rust Belt Rhyme

 

As a moody child clutches

the hem of  an indifferent mother's gown,

oh my Canada, I love you,

no matter the times and ways you let me down.

David Alec Knight grew up in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. Recent work has appeared in Verse Afire, Night Owl Narrative, Tickets To Midnight Volume 2 - It's Human, Starman Oddity Anthology - Poetry And Art Inspired By David Bowie, and Stormwash: Environmental Poems. He was recipient of the Ted Plantos Memorial Award for Poetry, 2021. His most recent book, Leper Mosh (Cajun Mutt Press, 2022), is his first book to feature his own art on the cover.