Six Poems by John Drudge

 

Something New 

 

Each dream 

An individual flower 

Unfolding  

Like the petals  

Of an unseen bloom 

Shining 

Across unknown terrain 

Every dawn 
A hymn to beginnings 
A thread stretching  

Beyond the edge 
Where eternity stirs 

Rooted in soil  

Across untrodden paths 

Unfamiliar in the sun

Old New York 

 

Glowing amber  

Streetlamps 

The city pulsing  

With restless rhythms 

And half-realized need 

Avenues shimmering 

Like rivers of champagne 

Where shiny new cars  

Sweep past newsboys  

And dreamers alike 

Each chasing their own  

Fleeting glimmer  

Of destiny 

Tears piercing smoky twilight 

In a city intoxicated  

With its own grandeur 

And the promise  

Of tomorrow  

That shines on the ache  

Of today’s sorrow 

In old New York

Vincent  

 

Sunflowers  

Like sentinels  

In golden fields 

Faces turned always  

To the sun 

A silent worship  

And Vincent 

Hands restless  

Heart fervent  

Fragile petals reflecting  

Bright yet fleeting 

Yearning and delicate 

 Frenzied  

The ache of a soul  

Seeking solace  

With the sunflowers  

Whispering back eternity 

In bloom

Paper Boats 

Parenthood  

A tender chaos  

A whirlwind of tiny hands  

And wide wondering eyes  

Where time folds itself  

Like paper boats drifting  

Endlessly and suddenly  

And children  

The poets of the unspoken 

Singing the world new  

With each breath  

Always growing away  

And toward 

And their laughter  

An untranslatable music  

That fills the sky  

With impossible colours  

The universe dreaming itself 

Belonging always 

To the horizon

 

The Finger 

The new year  

Comes roaring in 

A lunatic beast of promise  

And peril  

Howling with the madness  

Of things yet undone  

Whispering sweet 

Narcotic lies of redemption  

And renewal  

While the clock ticks  

Like a timebomb  

In the background  

And hope  

Reckless and absurd  

Grips us by the collar 

Pulling us to our feet  

Despite the wreckage  

Of resolutions past  

And raises our glasses  

To the chaos 

A toast to the unknown 

Daring the universe  

To knock us down again

Paris Snow 

 

Beneath  

A soft quilt of powder 

Paris transforms  

Into a dreamscape  

Where each cobblestone  

And spire glimmers  

With a fresh  

Elegance 

And the quiet hush  

Of falling snow  

Inspires a gentle  

Reverence 

As if the city itself  

Pauses to embrace  

The poetry of winter

  

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 seven books of poetry: “March” (2019), “The Seasons of Us” (2019), New Days (2020), Fragments (2021), A Long Walk (2023), A Curious Art (2024) and Sojourns (2024) . His work has appeared widely in 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.