A Medley of Poems
By New York Poet J.H. Johns
Narrations By Paul Mann
“A STRANGE YEAR”
Some years are the same;
some years are different-
and
some years are strange;
this year was-
“a strange year;”
the people;
the places;
the things;
the weather;
the happenings;
the “not-happenings;”
the house;
the car;
our lives;
their lives;
many things were strange
in this-
“a strange year.”
“COME BE MY WOLF-TRESS”
Come be my wolf-tress;
so that we can prowl
and
howl
the days and nights away;
we’ll frolic in the bushes;
roll around in the den;
sip water from the same stream-
be together, always;
we’ll head up to the hills;
we’ll drop down into the dales;
we’ll work to be a team- and be sure-
to make- and take- time to play;
so,
come be my wolf-tress,
let’s continue the journey
that we’ve begun-
and not lose another day-
come be my wolf-tress…
“DECISION TIME”
The
seconds, minutes,
hours and days
tumble down
toward
just one-
single and isolated-
moment
when
what heretofore
was
considered
a decision-
like them all-
“yes or no;”
“better to do;”
“better not;”
but not really
in our control;
no,
circumstances
made the decision for us,
all we had to do
was
go along…
“GOING OUT OF HER MIND”
She says she’s going
out of her mind-
but,
where would you go?
Is there a place
where things
would be different;
a place where
things would change;
seem different,
seem better;
and,
how would you know;
you’ll have left
your mind, behind;
no,
it’s better to stay “one”
with your mind,
because
once you
“go out of your mind”
what happens
if you forget
where you left it
and
can’t find it?
What,
then?
“REBIRTH”
A resetting-
the tone;
the behaviors;
the expectations;
the leaving;
the coming back-
again;
the strangeness;
the knowing;
the closeness;
the distance;
the staying;
the going;
the starting all over, again;
the knowing;
the not knowing;
the unspoken sensing
that
we’ve been here before.