Poetry: Selections From John Yamrus

in 1865

 

Eppenetus McIntosh 

was on the steamship Sultana 

 

just 

outside Memphis. 

 

he was 

on his way home 

 

after 

being released 

from the horror of Andersonville Prison. 

 

the Civil War had ended 

and Eppenetus was 

asleep 

 

when 

a boiler on 

the ship blew up 

 

and 

he was 

thrown into the river 

along with hundreds and hundreds of others. 

 

more 

than 1,200 

died in the water that day. 

 

not Eppenetus. 

 

he 

was saved 

from drowning 

and dragged to shore 

by Abraham Arkansas Fogelsong. 

 

imagine that.

 

 

 

he was a kind of dreamy drunk

 

who 

had been 

trying to get 

his act together for years. 

 

first, 

he gave up weed,..

 

then, 

the pills,

which were 

never really a problem.

 

and 

then he 

stopped drinking Jack 

and did nothing but red wine.

 

but,

that got to be 

too much trouble 

when he saw himself 

turning into a bit of a snob, 

especially around people who didn’t drink.

 

so, 

he went 

back to the Jack, 

mostly because it was easier 

 

and faster 

 

and 

he never 

did like people 

who didn’t drink, anyway.

 

 

 

Marcus loved cliches.

 

his 

current 

favorite is 

you never know 

your fingers are dirty 

until you wash your hands. 

 

he 

thought 

he made that one up, 

 

but 

he actually 

read it somewhere, 

 

maybe 

in an old 

F. Scott Fitzgerald book. 

 

Marcus 

loved Fitzgerald 

even more than he loved cliches, 

 

and 

he used 

cliches all the time. 

 

nearly 

every day. 

 

they 

just felt right. 

 

Marcus 

knew as sure as shit 

there’s more than one way to skin a cat, 

 

and 

you can 

take that to the bank.

 

 

 

 

 

John Yamrus is widely recognized as master of minimalism and the neo-noir in modern poetry. In a career spanning more than 50 years as a working writer, he has had nearly 4,000 poems published in books, magazines and anthologies around the world. His writing is often taught in college and university courses. Three of his more than 40 books have been published in translation. Fittingly, the 75 year old’s newest book is a volume of his signature minimalist poetry called AIN’T DONE YET (Anxiety Press).