Thursday, 12 June 2025

Six Poems by John Yamrus

 






nobody  

 

reads  

Norman Mailer anymore,  

 

and  

that’s too bad.   

 

with  

all his faults,  

Mailer was a hell of a writer. 

 

masculine to a fault.   

 

it  

was said  

that when he  

walked across a room  

you could hear his balls clank.   

 

probably  

his greatest strength and weakness. 

 

but, 

he did write  

some terrific books.   

 

some  

awful ones, too.   

 

but,  

the main thing  

is that he wrote... 

 

and  

even when it  

was only for the paycheck,  

he wrote with thought and guts and  

 

fire and heart.   

 

if  

you get  

the time (and  

even if you don’t 

go pick up a copy of  

his book: THE FIGHT.  

 

you can  

thank me later. 

 

 

 

if 

 

he  

wanted 

to, 

 

he 

could  

have  

been 

something, 

 

but 

he 

found 

it easier 

 

to 

be 

nothing 

at 

all 

 

 

 

the cops  

 

were  

after his ass.   

 

he  

knew it.   

 

and they  

made sure he knew it.   

 

leaving  

copies of his  

book about them  

on the hood of his car  

was just one unsubtle way  

 

of making their point.   

 

showing up  

at all hours of  

the day and night  

 

was  

another.   

 

sooner or later 

they were gonna get him... 

 

there was  

no doubt of it. 

 

but, 

it was gonna  

be on his terms.   

 

and  

he kept on writing  

 

and  

he kept on  

telling the truth.   

 

that’s 

what they  

hated the most.




you 

 

can’t 

die yet, 

 

she said, 

 

you 

haven’t  

finished your work. 

 

     but, 

          the moon. 

 

 

 

what about the moon?

 


 

who needs heaven 

 

when 

i already have 

 

this  

book 

 

this  

room 

 

this  

dog 

 

and you. 

 

 

 

he was 

 

an unconscious  

lyric poet 

and 

 

 

mean old  

motherfucker 

 

with 

his brains 

all down his neck. 

 

he 

liked 

old Soul music, 

jelly beans, wet grass 

 

and 

the sound 

the birds make 

when they just get up.









John Yamrus - In a career spanning more than 50 years as a working writer, John Yamrus has published 40 books. He has also had more than 3,500 poems published in magazines and anthologies around the world. A number of his books and poems are taught in college and university courses. He is widely considered to be a master of minimalism and the neo-noir in modern poetry. His two most recent books are the memoir THE STREET and a volume of poetry called PRESENT TENSE. In addition, 3 of his books have been published in translation.

 

 

  

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment

One Poem by Deborah A. Bennett

  Diaspora walking on 16th street  the last temptation  city of angels  the red moon the red balloon  guiding me to the corner of  madison a...