December 2024
John Dorroh
travelerjd59@gmail.com
Bio Note: I recently had a death in the family. It took my breath away and left me reevaluating everything in my life...like which country I want to move to and who would have me.

I have already begun to process my grief through writing. Of course with writing. I don't know my family any longer. Who are these people? I recently had poems accepted with three journals, so someone notices that I still have a pulse at least for now.


Prelude to End Times: When Doves Die Unexpectedly

Dove on the front porch, a pocket knife
stuck in its breast. this is not progress. unacceptable
by civil standards. i mean, peace, olive branches,
all that. hmm. it’s like a sign, something foreboding

Baby dolls stretch their chubby, pink necks
up toward a furious sky. no one knows where they planted
the bombs. or when & how they will detonate. 
no one’s safe

Yellow sweaters no longer blend in. They have a way
of making their persons lose breath, stand out. 
like in a movie when a hero gets pumped in the chest 
with a Ginsu.

There’s still enough oil to go around. no one has to control
it all, monopolize abundance.  stilettos turn their sharp heels
to the ceiling. james bond scenario. 
no second takes.

A Novelist Speaks at Our Retreat

      Eilza raises her well-accessorized hand
to ask yet another question. I have to pee. She
      really needs to stop. 

      There are overachievers in exclamation points
in every room in every school. They have a different
      electricity from all of us.

      This time she wants to know if the novelist
is a millionaire. How rude. It’s the last thing
      I wanted to know. 

      The next time she asks what’s a typical day
for writing. He tells her something she doesn’t expect:
      I walk for hours in the woods.

      There is chicken soup and artisan sandwiches for lunch
but we have to wait for Eliza to catch her breath.
      I think about blond brownies.

      I want to know if he ever wants to kill himself
and whether he’s thought about emancipation,
      whether he prays for best-sellers.

©2024 John Dorroh
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