Seven Poems by John Yamrus

 

he dreamed 

 

he 

was a god, 

 

but 

the dead dog 

on the side of the road 

 

knew better.

 

 

 

first 

 

Rooney died, 

then Belmonte,  

 

and now, 

the only ones left 

 

are  

me and you 

and a hawk and a mouse. 

 

 

 

at 74 

 

i forget 

almost all of it, 

 

but, 

i never  

will forget  

 

you. 

 

 

Stella-dog, 

 

on  

the couch, 

 

in the 

morning sun. 

 

you 

already 

know it all, 

 

don’t you?

 

 

 

we had 

 

what  

all the others 

 

hope  

to have. 

 

we 

still do. 

 

 

 

the last thing 

 

he  

said to me: 

 

don’t 

ever be 

the knot... 

 

always 

be the rope.

 

 

the road 

 

is not 

the path. 

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.