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)
 

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