Weekly Poem: Letters From The Dark

November 14, 2013

Voices, Art / Culture, Poetry

One friend writes from prison,
as helpless as I am
to help him.

Another friend, dead, reveals
himself through words left behind, signs
of him I never noticed
when I thought I knew him,

the same signs I’m thinking/writing
now, in the back yard,
a fire in the chimenea, October leaves
in clumps under the trees.

From what I can tell, my self
reveals itself in spurts that I react to
afterwards.  Words help me
understand what underlies—

or are they lies I write
myself, like letters from a prison
to an imagined friend
outside, where I’m not

allowed to go, locked up 
inside my body in the dark,
where the impulses are born
and flash.

 

(Photo by chicagogeek)




This piece was written by:

Joseph Somoza's photo

Joseph Somoza

Joseph Somoza retired from teaching (NMSU) and editing (Puerto del Sol) a few years back to have more time for writing in his back yard. He has published four books and five chapbooks of poetry over the years, most recently a collaboration with artist Louis Ocepek, Miraculous. He lives in Las Cruces with wife Jill, an artist.

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