Poetry: Selections from Tohm Bakelas

i hadn’t given much thought about it

in the tree shade 

outside the exchange 

cars pass by

as poems swirl 

amongst june leaves 

in the spring breeze. 

 

sometimes it is this way. 

 

new jersey doesn’t know 

much of anything else;

 

seasons change 

without escape,

consistent diners 

with all night menus…

 

autumn provides minimal reprieve 

while the sun claims everything else. 

 

some day i will die here, 

will any of this even matter?

springtime in denville

out by the gully

we tossed dreams for

quarters and conformity—

i still walk the water bank

following fox prints and feathers,

wading through broken memories

of lost love and dead friends.

 

i chase skybirds along

invisible migratory lines

and sift through silt of

conscious thoughts

and cracked teeth

 

ghosts fuck with my senses

and i feel all their love in me

 

my home town burns on

as the creeks run dry

 

it is 5:12 in the evening

and i’m drunk in the sun

4/13/22

 

chasing the black sun

like sparrows

in retreating

twilight,

these days

have become

so much longer

the night passes

under neon wounds

all roads lead somewhere,

to some place not here

time unfolds and

memories fray

Tohm Bakelas is a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. He was born in New Jersey, resides there, and will die there. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, zines, and online publications. He has published 17 chapbooks and 2 collections. He also runs Between Shadows Press.