John Destalo

John Destalo Sep 2020

this summer
was rare

not much rain

the river is
shallow

it is easy
to see to

the bottom

we sit on
the narrow steps

take off
our shoes and

dip our feet in

and let them
play with

the little fishes
swimming

between the rocks
and shells

John Destalo Sep 2020

certainty

never the angel
she escaped

Schrodinger’s box
she was alive

and we all knew it
we wanted

to live life
like her

outside the box
and if we died

living like her
we wanted

everyone to
know it

John Destalo Sep 2020

beatnik

almost the
perfect word

nothing is perfect
it conjures

innocence and
freedom in me

a time before
questions and

answers and
words were

for playing

when gardens
were free

and full of
birds and bees

and beautiful weeds

John Destalo Sep 2020

open

the window wanted
to be left open

all night
so it could hear

the night life
see the moonlight

feel the cool breeze
coming in from

the deep seas
it didn’t care

if it rained and
everything got stained

it wanted to be
open for everything

John Destalo Sep 2020

healing

I lifted you from
rough waters

held you
like a swan

in an elegant
embrace

the gentle breeze
comforted

our broken souls
until we could

quiet down
our insides

and begin to mend

John Destalo Sep 2020

by Robert Bly

I just started
playing with

w o r d s

they were like
blocks and

my mind was
clumsy

everything I
wrote was a
sloppy mess

then paging
through a book

I stumbled on
a poem named

f e r n s

it became my
model

teaching me
how to paint

with w o r d s

John Destalo Sep 2020

the end of conversation

the gentle man
has disappeared

there are no posters
looking for him

the neighborhood
is not holding

hands as they
comb through

the dark forest
there are no

flowers or signs
in his memory

he is not
remembered

or missed
by anyone

but he will be
when silence

and sanity return