April 2015
I am attorney and writer living in Arlington, Virginia. I have two books to my name: Unknown Sands: Journeys Around the World's Most Isolated Country, a first hand account of traveling the central Asian country of Turkmenistan and a legal reference book that has nothing to do with poetry. I keep a blog on books and poems on an unscheduled basis, http://compulsivelyaimless.blogspot.com/ I'm currently writing stories centered around a crayon factory started by my great grandfather.
House Fire
in memory of my sister, Ann Unemori
Next door lived an artist
Her house filled with madly fantastic images
You thought there was a lifetime
To visit and curate
One night you’re called to the scene
The house is burning down
You run to the fire
But the structure is too consumed by flame
Moments enough to grab a few fragments
One last dash for an armload more
You pull her phrases from the inferno
“Delightful chaos” and “psychic vampire”
Like the Great Library of Alexandria
The rest is lost
Without anyone ever to know
Her treasures still inside.
Why Move
Why move from your town
When you already know
the shortcuts
to avoid the lights
the girl at the coffee shop who knows you drink it black
the guy at the hardware store who knew how to fix your lawn mower
and the Sunoco mechanic who plugged the leak for $10
(when the dealer said replace all four radials)
which Chinese take-out has the best moo shu pork
which neighbors to talk to
and which to avoid
where you can let the dogs off the leash
You'll also have to leave behind the tree house
You built in the backyard
Even if no one plays in it anymore
©2015 John Kropf