jake st. john | 158 words for loneliness & i talked to the moon

158 Words For Loneliness

I am writing poems tonight
and have no one to read them to
I will read them to the wall
and we will laugh
at the poems I am writing
alone in my room
I will read them to the wall
and make the wall cry
at the words it hears
tonight alone in my room
I will read my poems
to the windows
who will open
and shout my poems
down into the street
that is as lonely
as my room is tonight
I will shout my poems
at the ceiling
and curse it
for hiding the moon
I will read my poems
to the door
that is keeping
the outside
from coming into
my room tonight
I will read my poems
to the floor
and make it cheer
for the words
that represent those
that have been trampled upon
I will read my poems
to the walls
and make them cry
tonight alone in my room

I Talked To The Moon

for Jack Micheline

I’m talking to the moon
tonight for you, Jack
I moved my feet
and made it to California
a long way from home
and I talked to the moon
in Asheville
and I talked to the moon
in Nashville
I talked to the moon
in New Orleans
where the waters rose
above the doors
but the bars did not close
I talked to the moon
in Texas
in wide open spaces
where poems rode
like outlaws
through the streets
and the moon talked to me
as it shined in the sky
and reflected like
the white line of the highway
my insides spilled
on the streets
of Broadway in San Francisco
my heart thumping
in Chinatown
I talked to the moon
and rambled my dreams
and my nightmares
and the moon talked to me, Jack
the moon talked to me