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186 · May 2017
The Query
Johnno Payne May 2017
Send me a query, the agent said,
The writer, he winced in dread,
Don’t be dull, pass on vain,
And don’t forget, include your name

Don’t you know, can’t you see?
I can spin a tale like a silken tree,
Bring you low, to take you high.
Make you laugh, or make you cry,

I can make it short, or go for long,
In a hurry, I can write you a song,
But what you ask, cuts like a knife,
I can’t write a query, to save my life
181 · Apr 2017
My Place (poetic essay)
Johnno Payne Apr 2017
I have a place,
It belongs to me and it doesn’t,
I own it but I don’t,
I share it, I guess, but I won’t,
It’s a place I go to think,
Where I dream of tomorrow,
Remember yesterday,
Regret lost days I forgot to cherish,
Fear for days to come I won’t notice,
It’s really a secret place,
Even though there is a trail,
Most people won’t take it,
They stay on the wider path,
So they don’t know what they missed,
Which is fine with me, and them,
The ones who go there, too,
For the same reason I do, probably,
Just the same, I resent it,
Not all the time, just when I need it,
I went there today and it was taken,
Just like yesterday, and the day before,
****, ****, and ****,
Be there all you want,
Just don’t be there when I go there
180 · Apr 2017
Home in the Dark
Johnno Payne Apr 2017
Let’s walk into darkness,
Where shadows hide,
In winter’s pride,
And secrets undress

Yes, walk into night,
Where spirits dwell,
Where they fell,
Screaming with all their might,

Step into where hope is lost,
Never to be found,
Desolate and forgotten,
Dead at such a cost

Come into blackness,
Where passion is born,
And hearts are torn,
With smiles of malice

It’s my place to be,
The one I crave,
I can’t be saved,
Where I am only me
170 · Apr 2017
Love Story
Johnno Payne Apr 2017
Write me a story of love,
Of pain, tragedy, and sin,
Of true hearts broken,
In lives scarcely begun

Give me an epic of love,
Of lies, cheating and tears,
In gin, whiskey and beer,
And mourning thereof,

Tell me of reborn love,
Of the broken mended,
Shattered promises amended,
And hearts freshly won
147 · Apr 2017
A Word
Johnno Payne Apr 2017
Give me a word,
The poet said,
Something you’ve heard,
Or might’ve read,
To make a line,
Two, or more,
That we define,
Will be yours

Just pick a word,
From your life,
Make it good,
And I will strive,
To give a something,
That you will know,
Is more than nothing,
It belongs to you


Yes, only you,
And no one else,
So make it true,
Spare no expense,
A word, please,
From your heart,
That truly speaks,
From the start

— The End —