They burn witches in
quiet cul de sacs
with cashmere lawns
and SUVs
and lives crocheted
like doilies one
dream at a time.
The accused are tried
in courts they never
enter,
their names dunked
till every letter is
mud and water
and the smoke smells
like righteousness
and the corpse
looks almost holy.
Some days I can only
believe in silence
and I wish I could find
some soft words shining
there in the grass like
a dime or lost keys
as I pass through the
parallel worlds of lake
and sky,
their silent mockery
competing for clarity,
reveling in what they
keep hidden.
Hidden.
Some hidden things are
sublime,
like God behind that sky,
like roots that mine
the earth for life;
other hidden things like
snakes and words,
all fangs and hypnotic eyes,
tongues and fire,
behind the trenches,
pluck out lives
one by one.
Do they see
my name spelled
out in smoke,
my heart a torch that
snuffs the timid day?
Patricia Joan Jones
To read more of my work go to: My Poetry List
).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=reedster&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/reedster-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'LOOKING DOWN AT ME');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'LOOKING DOWN AT ME There are a million stories that have been told Never tir<a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350190&displaypoem=t&sitename=reedster&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'reedster');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-24')){kind=small}
reedster
).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=poetic2984&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/poetic2984-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'Such A Day');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'What day is just about appearing on the horizon One that to many shall be a <a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350111&displaypoem=t&sitename=poetic2984&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'poetic2984');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-20')){kind=small}
poetic2984).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=poetry2071&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/poetry2071-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'DO YOUR PRAYING LOVING FAITHFUL BEST--TO--AL');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'DO YOUR PRAYING LOVING FAITHFUL VERY BEST <a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350189&displaypoem=t&sitename=poetry2071&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'poetry2071');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-24')){kind=small}
poetry2071).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=poet5170&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/poet5170-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'AN ERASER');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'AN ERASER Imagine an eraser inside the brain Removing things and causing s<a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350173&displaypoem=t&sitename=poet5170&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'poet5170');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-23')){kind=small}
poet5170
PoetryPoem.com 