Poems by John Grey – Why Bother? and The Honeymoon Mystery

WHY BOTHER

Why bother waking up
from your afternoon nap?
There’s some kids outside
tormenting a dying bird.

A nap is to be contented in.
To enter a world where birds sing,
don’t crawl broken-winged across the sidewalk
while being poked by sticks.

Being awake, you report to the open window
and scream at the urchins down below.
They laugh at you, old man.
Why bother waking up your impotency?

THE HONEYMOON MYSTERY

You were into some amazing secret
that is often hinted at but never revealed.
It is inconceivably sacred.
Incredibly precious.

There were times I thought it was mere coincidence
that I was lying on the bed beside you.
I certainly wasn’t the fruit of the holy.
The mystery no heart can fathom or tongue relate.

Byzantine? I was half-undressed.
Pagan ceremony? I wrapped an arm around you.
Templar and Cathar? I held you close to me.
But what was that shining dimly in the background?

Your hand was host enough.
Your body made for an elegant cross.
We were in a cheap hotel room in Phoenix.
Not in the midst of some Arthurian legend.

It was 1987. The object in question, a honeymoon.
I don’t think we failed in our quest.

BIO –

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Sheepshead Review, Stand, Poetry Salzburg Review and Hollins Critic. Latest books, “Leaves On Pages” “Memory Outside The Head” and “Guest Of Myself” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Ellipsis, Blueline and International Poetry Review.

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