John Rowe
JOHN ROWE has poems appearing in a variety of small press journals and anthologies. His latest chapbook is Beyond Perspective from Finishing Line Press. Connie Post says: “The poems in Beyond Perspective will take any reader to a heightened level of introspection and awareness. John Rowe has found a delicate and perfect way of blending the imagined world with ordinary life.” John‘s previous poetry chapbooks At My Wit’s Beginning and Winsome Losesome showcase his tendencies toward whimsical word play and a minimalist approach. He is a co-host of the monthly (2nd Fridays) Last Word Poetry Reading Series, held at Nefeli Caffe in Berkeley. For many years he’s served as president of the Bay Area Poets Coalition and associate editor of BAPC’s Poetalk journal. Website: http://www.rowepoet.
Before the Harvest, Before the Storm
Here now
before the harvest
the farmer walks
along the rows of crops
Field mice,
with whiskers twitching,
stick their heads
out of earthen holes
Wind pushes
swollen gray clouds
closer overhead
What else stirs
before the storm?
The smallest to the largest
heart of every being
alive in micro- and macroconsciousness
with a steady unsteadiness
or an unsteady steadiness
as it’s all a matter
of timelessness
– John Rowe (2016)
I Say
I say
quietly to myself:
these thoughts
are as loud as
a cat fight
I say
aloud to anyone
who will listen:
come gather here
where the music,
a symphony of silence,
is about to begin
I say
with gesturing
arms & hands:
if I were a bird
I’d fly away right now
from this town square
I say
as a spirit unseen:
do you really believe
I am only
the wind?
I say
as an afterthought:
before we go any further
let’s recognize
that we’re always
in this together
I say
to the poem:
I thought I
could control you,
but you took off
and moved on
without my say
I say
in the moment:
this moment,
yes this one,
is truth revealed
– John Rowe (2016)