Poetry: Selections from John Yamrus

he tended to

forget 

that (more than anything) 

 

life 

is a condition, 

 

and 

things like 

hunger, cold and death 

 

are only 

elements of that condition.

 

so,

when she came to him,

giving off a music that had no sound, 

 

he was 

confused, scared 

and more than a little bit sad. 

 

he 

looked at her and said:

 

this is 

all just a mistake...

 

a sentimental idea 

that does none of us any good.

 

she 

was naked...

 

he 

was sad...

 

and 

the morning light 

coming thru the window 

 

had nothing more to add.

she looked like

 

someone 

who needed to 

be posing for a statue...

 

like 

a scene 

out of an old movie, 

 

she stood there, 

on the side of the road, 

 

lit a smoke 

and blew him a kiss, 

 

while he 

put the car in gear 

 

and drove away.

she wasn’t empty...

 

she 

was filled

with emptiness...

 

and

the difference

drove him absolutely

 

and completely

 

mad.

John Yamrus’s career spans more than 50 years as a working writer. He has published 35 books (29 volumes of poetry, 2 novels, 3 volumes of non-fiction and a children’s book). He has also had nearly 3,000 poems published in magazines and anthologies around the world. A book of his selected poems was just released in Albania, translated into that language by Fadil Bajraj, who is best known for his translations of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Bukowski, Ginsberg, Pound and others. A number of Yamrus’s books and poems are taught in college and university courses. His most recent book is Selected Poems: The Directors (Concrete Mist Press)