Billie Holiday of the Burning Sky

billie holiday of the drifting light

struck dumb by the sea of love

burning through sad long days

roots of spring demons

the heart of sunlight

softly singing.

The Lord of Pity & Barbed Wire

is not far away

the moonshine resurrection

of agony

piled high

yesterday

the air

blew jazz songs

from a dead church.

Telegrams from a Chicken’s Neck

leroi jones died today

long pauses of morning

my clean laundry

hidden in loneliness

your tent of reason

in the name of charity

my father did it

for the glory

of regrets

we all have a cold

the alarm

doesn’t give a damn.

John Dorsey is the former Poet Laureate of Belle, MO. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Which Way to the River: Selected Poems: 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Sundown at the Redneck Carnival, (Spartan Press, 2022, and Pocatello Wildflower, (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2023). He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.