Mike James Verse-Virtual 2016 May

May 2016

I live and work in Chapel Hill, NC with my wife and five kids. My poems have appeared in numerous magazines. My eighth poetry collection, The Year We Let the House Fall Down, was just published by Aldrich Press. Aside from walking, reading and drinking coffee, I have no hobbies. As Mr. Rexroth once said, “I am a man of no ambition and few friends.” A new collection, Peddler’s Blues, is forthcoming from Main Street Rag in the fall.

All He Meant to Say
for J.W.

The lushness of his voice gone away.
He talked on and on and then he stopped.
Of course, he said all he meant to say.

At best, his mind moved like a ballet.
Though once going he forgot the clock.
The lushness of his voice gone away.

His talk rich with puns, jokes and word play.
Flawless as a well edited book.
Of course, he said all he meant to say.

Night was when he learned and did his trade.
Even then, alone, might talk non-stop.
The lushness of his voice gone away.

Some things, he said, he couldn’t repay.
Then add there were no choices he’d swap.
Of course, he said all he meant to say.

The last sky he saw was cold and grey.
By then he didn’t know what from what.
The lushness of his voice went away.
I think he said all he meant to say.