SUMMER IS DYING Outside, summer is dying into fall, and blue daddy petunias sprout ears— hear the beginning of night chills. In their yellow window box, they cuddle up and fear death together. The balcony sliding door is poorly insulated, and a cold draft creeps into all the spare rooms. BOWL OF BLACK PETUNIAS If you must leave me, please leave me for something special, like a beautiful bowl of black petunias— for when memories leak and cracks appear and old memories fade, flowers rebuff bloom, sidewalks fester weeds and we both lie down separately from each other for the very last time. MEMORIES PAST (Hillbilly Daddy) I settle into my thoughts zigzagging between tears my fathers’ grave— Tippecanoe River Indiana 1982. Over now, a hillbilly country like the flow catfish memories raccoons in trees coon dogs tracking on the river bank, the hunt. Snapping turtles in the boat offline— river flakes to ice— now covered thick snow.
Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam era. Today he is a poet in the greater Chicagoland area, IL. He has 284 YouTube poetry videos. He is aa published poet in 44 countries, a song lyricist, has several published poetry books. He is editor-in-chief of 3 poetry anthologies, all available on Amazon, and has several poetry books and chapbooks. He has over 453 published poems.
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