jchmcpherson

The Vulnerability of Birds

I. Feathers follow me where I go And show me the way A confirmation from the other side of the veil I’m on the right track Wine is a thief Who steals from me moments Yes of my life but more importantly From yours Today on our walk My first day after giving up wineContinue reading “The Vulnerability of Birds”

Ghazal for Johnny

Excerpt from “A Trail of Crumbs” poetry collection, due in late 2019. A Ghazal is a Persian poetry form using couplets that share a rhyme and a refrain. Each line must share the same meter. The writer must also reference the author’s own name and express longing in the last couplet. Written as the boyContinue reading “Ghazal for Johnny”

Trying to be Perfect

I didn’t know at the time that acting on stage would be so crazy. Be crazy. Crazy. “Run around the room screaming,” the director told me. I stood there a 16-year old, having just recited a monologue from Romeo & Juliet. I spoke as a mummy, tightly bound, wrapped in the concept of my ownContinue reading “Trying to be Perfect”

Being at home in a crowd

She was slower than the othersPushing her a little cart in the streams of endless people With their cones of gelato and running shoesI heard the old lady humming as I shouldered by Her sing-song tune barely rising above the hundreds of footfalls at once stepping on the slabs of stone A bridge she has walked hundredsContinue reading “Being at home in a crowd”

Hello Grace

You found your way to me On the island of Mezzorbo on that grassy green Between my daughter, my husband and a pine cone You were the 4-leaf clover Like the ones you sent me pressed into the paper cards and your script black ink words “Joanna” Of anything I may have inheritedContinue reading “Hello Grace”

Untitled at Bell Rock

After hours of walkingThe force of spring so strong Blows open the doors of my heartTo let the fresh air in It was the fragrance from the field of flowersFlowing to me on a breezeThat made me think of youUnless you let it goMay holding give you groundIn an otherwise empty spaceFor me, endless tiny white blossomsContinue reading “Untitled at Bell Rock”

Poems of Longing

I. Anger: what do you want me to hear? I am fuel: use me or I will consume you How do I use you? Ask yourself Why are you here? I am your essence: Fire Expand, or like a candle in a boxYou will die II.How far must one travel From fearing my journalsLeft out inContinue reading “Poems of Longing”

Enlightenment

One tree-sitting man, all upright spine sprung into the air as the back of a chair standing at attention to the table, all folded-knees under the generous canvas of robes, all chest spread for the exertion of eternal Motionlessness One hand a lotus its petals a closed paddle of fingers overlapping leaves layer over layer,Continue reading “Enlightenment”

Sick (Get Well)

Ever have one of those nights in sicknessA torment of monstersDancing their agony to you while you sleep?You can’t really call it sleep so much as a project In which you have no choice Nowhere else to go But strapped to this bed with your mind glued open to a 100 cut scenes of the movies ofContinue reading “Sick (Get Well)”

Writer

For over a year, I have sat down to write and this phrase came to mind. I was a faucet with no running water. I have nothing to say That is the fear of a writer The voice of shame Convincing me of its darkness Pleading with me to break into the pain of itsContinue reading “Writer”