Robert K. Johnson Verse-Virtual 2016 January

January 2016

Born in New York City (in Elmhurst), I lived in several different places there but have memories only of The Bronx (off Fordham Road). Then my family moved out "on The Island"—to Lynbrook, where we stayed till I graduated from Hofstra (then a College). Several years after my wife, Pat, and I married, we, plus our two children, settled in the Boston area and have remained there (except for my daughter, Kate, who has lived in Manhattan for quite a while). I have been writing poetry since I was twelve (many moons ago).

Eighty-five

Awakening,
I think: "I am still alive"
while joy--like the rush
of an incoming wave--
kisses all my skin.

I think: "Today
don't dress in the Fool's costume--
don't put on anger
or regret.

Treat everything
as if it were
music
you could touch."

(first published in IBBETSON STREET)

Chance
(For Katerina's Parents)

You can quickly see
which spoon-fed
"do" and "don't" rules
your two-year-old digested;

you can quickly hear
which lullabies you sang
she liked the most
by how soon her high voice
sings them along with you;

but only when she comes home
from nursery school
tired and near-teary
and says with a sigh,
"I had a rough day,"
do you learn what,
on her own, she picks
out of the air.