June 2015
Having been an artist all of my life and a poet for twenty years, my love of art and poetry came together several years ago when I began creating cartoons from some of my funnier poems, which I call “pometoons.” I won the 2012 Hal Grutzmacher poetry award, and I am the recipient of a Pushcart nomination. My chapbook Ritual for Beginning Again was published in 2012. I can be contacted through the website bookthatpoet.com
On Not Knowing
When I was young, I watched
a Chinese monk brush characters
of red lacquer on a door
the color of spoiled plums;
no matter what his message,
I felt the impatience of not knowing
and something changed in my heart.
And here lies the struggle,
the uncertainty in wondering
if there is anything
more certain than losing my hat
when I leaned into sunset
sighting a humpback whale,
the weight of its bones
bearing hard to lee,
stunning in aptitude and joy,
its molecules speaking a language
I did not understand.
-first published in Nimrod
©2015 Jeffrey Johannes