Poetry: He Was Another

he was another

bonehead 

who thought that 

once his book was out 

 

the world 

was gonna come 

banging on his door, 

 

wanting 

to hear him 

read his poems 

 

and 

tell them 

his theories on life, 

love, sadness, goodness 

 

and 

why his poems 

were the only ones 

in the world worth reading.

 

it didn’t happen.  

 

there 

was a paragraph 

in the local newspaper 

 

and that was it.  

 

he did a 

book signing 

at an art gallery 

and no one showed 

except the owner and his wife, 

 

his niece 

and a couple of kids 

who walked in to get out of the rain.  

 

the kids 

smelled like wet dogs 

and laughed at the paintings 

 

and left.  

 

there 

was a table 

in the back, with 

a tray of cookies that 

not even the kids would eat...

 

a bottle of 

wine and a bowl 

of ice that was starting to melt.

John Yamrus has been a working writer for over 50 years, publishing 35 books, including 29 poetry collections, 2 novels, and 3 volumes of non-fiction. His work has appeared in nearly 3,000 magazines and anthologies worldwide. Recently, The Street and Present Tense were released by Anxiety Press.