Sweet or Sour
By John Lennox
It has been a while since you died, so where
is your ghost? Haven’t seen him ever.
You died twice and are double dead:
failed the makeup exam.
Tell me what my body does
after your Internet reading.
I like the idea of a controlled blast,
leaping over page and stanza
break alike. On one side a waterfall,
soft hair, and on the other side
a parallel waterfall, retreated on the wind.
Another year pissed, made mulch.
Still I squint for the clue he’d been by,
a little urine left in the bowl.
Makes fruit of the old sign
still bright behind the tree.
Copyright Credit: John Lennox, "Sweet or Sour." Copyright © 2018 John Lennox. Used by permission of the author for PoetryNow, a partnership between the Poetry Foundation and the WFMT Radio Network.
Source: PoetryNow (2018)