Poetry

Dorret photo

By

Judy Sky Jones

Baltimore

These streets wear memories,

of drowsy nights and water views,

tweaked hydrants and splayed kids,

delicious aromas lounging lazily midair,

rhythmic beats of distant intentions,

car horns and childish laughter,

overseen by stoop keepers,

of each red row home, now empty,

couped by chemical czars,

treading time,

to the thump of batons against barricaded doors,

cement pockmarked by metal jackets,

faceless souls with corroded dreams,

battered blood and stetted brain,

a long scream down.

Transparent Rope

Transparent rope, by which to hang,

a summer jacket or Kevlar vest

shrouded in calm, though temporary

with a southern view

from a vertical tightrope

Heeled walkers, too close together

for separate thoughts

merge en masse their fears

plunging downward and then

catapulting

like unkempt wind

towards a loop and knot they cannot see.

Judy Sky Jones

When not dodging bullets on the streets of Baltimore, Judy Sky Jones often spends her day training her cat, Tommy, to sit, which he always does, eventually. She is the author of the eBook, Mob Cats (Listonhouse).