September 2016
Thomas R. Thomas
tthom55@gmail.com
tthom55@gmail.com
I live in Long Beach, CA with my wife Michelle. I work as a QA Analyst for Fox where I test websites for Fox Sports, but I have had the fun of working on computer games and cartoons (Ren and Stimpy). I have been published in a few poetry journals including Carnival, & Chiron Review. I have some books and chapbooks including "the art of invisibility" by Dark Heart Press.
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Author's Note: These poems are part of a poetical work in progress. The first five poems that were published last month are the beginning of the work and are numbered 1-5, and the ones here for September are 6-10. I am writing them under the working title of "Losing My Religion." The poems are an attempt on my part to look at my youth from outside of myself. After I am finished writing the collection the poems will find a new title. |
[Losing My Religion]
6
new school
his parents hoping
Baptist school
will help will
challenge him
in fifth grade
thinking stubbornness,
unwilling to learn
if he’s not interested
not knowing he can’t
run his train
on more than one track
the train can only
run on one track
at a time
one track one train
one path one destination
one direction one one one
7
descent into darkness
his mind grows cold
his circle closes in
the mind's eye
turns in - no
outside world
Danger Danger
the outside world invades
the classroom is not safe
this sixth grade teacher
is enemy - is attacking
fight fight defend
curl up inside head
turn in close eyes
turn off
8
he is reborn
on his twelfth
birthday
not hating
school
life
new home
school
city
recast
almost
saved
9
sinking into
aloneness
wrapped in
a cloak of
darkness
he doesn’t know
how to reach out
touch the
world
around him
10
new bike
sits by
the tree
butterfly
handle bars
banana seat
new bike
for a new
teenager
fly through
city streets
jump small hills
soar between
the rows of
the orange grove
disappear into
this new
freedom
©2016 Thomas R. Thomas
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