jake st. john | four new poems

Life Views From Bourbon Street, Reflecting

Stealing the night
He wears it like a mask

Slow streets slump
…………………………….And wait to be born

Do you know how to feel
……………………………………..And what is at stake?

I see sin through thin disguise
……………………………………………….And smile

Kings with rotting souls
…………………………………….Wait for us to die
The sidewalks are our spies
………………………………………….Screaming for sweet surrender

I held the cold hand of a warm dream
That tapped me on the shoulder

Brick film screens
……………………………Showing a picture I’ve seen before

Poetry
Poverty
Purity

Look she’s nude in the window

I think we’re still wet from birth

Even a cricket casts a large shadow
……………………………………………………..In the right light

Are the gates open for our escape?
We’re unknown in India

Sex chased a couple into the alley, laughing

Can I make it to California?
…………………………………………The hitchhikers’ whore

I tease myself with a clear thought
……………………………………………………..But she’s quick to leave

Loners
Lovers
And the Lonely
-Whose tears are these?

Summer’s End

From a porch
along the sound
lined with condos
and modern homes
that take the view
into their pocket

the trees break
in part enough
to bring into view
one drunken boat
wobbling
among the waves

Change Of Address

After we
disappear

we come back
again

only briefly
an eternal second

emerging in
the vacant corner

of a familiar eye
just to inspire

a thought
before leaving

Song

I’ll go out alone
……………………….with you
tonight

I disappear for only
……………………………..a second
to clear my head

timing is all we have
……………………………….in the end

the nocturnal rhythm of tides
beats a complex cadence
………………………………………on the heart
the minding numbing chaos
……………………………………………of waking
weighs heavily on my eyes

my shoulders slouch
and carry the burden of rising torches

the even tempo of clouds

the overrun of stars
………………………………is lightened
in your steps

and the moment of hope
……………………………………..is outlined
in a primitive moon.

Jake St. John currently writes out of New London, CT, where he also coordinates poetry readings in and around the New England area. He is the co-editor of Flying Fish and the editor of Elephant, two small press poetry magazines. His work has appeared in several print publications including Chronogram, Unarmed Journal and Fell Swoop. He has published several collections of poetry.