Poem by John Sweet – with broken wings, with bruised hearts December 29, 2022
Posted by vscorpiozine in John Sweet, poems, poetry, Veteran Poets.Tags: John Sweet, poems, poetry, veteran poets
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with broken wings, with bruised hearts
& the future is prisons, you see,
and the future is loss
let go of yr house, of yr
children, but hang onto the hatred
that defines you
give up christ
give up all those pretty songs
your mother used to sing
close in on holiness
like a soldier taking aim
Read more of John’s poetry at The Bleeding Horse, Avenged
Poems by John Sweet- “in these cupped hands holding nothing” and “theme for the eternal now” April 29, 2021
Posted by vscorpiozine in John Sweet, poems, poetry, Veteran Poets.Tags: John Sweet, poems, poetry
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in these cupped hands holding nothing
a sound like christ
denying the pain
a cold sunlit morning filled
with junkie priests and shadow kings
the lie that all of these wars are
different and not tied together by the
same ropes of ignorance
and greed
and it was a mistake
i made once, not numbering
myself among the cowards
it was my father who
showed me the light
knew we might not all be nowhere
but we are all still nothing
we are all the flesh of god left
rotting at the freeway’s edge
can’t spend our lives being afraid
to dig for the humor buried
down underneath
all of that blood-soaked pain
theme for the eternal now
let our blood be a gift,
a song
let peace be
the obvious answer
not picasso, but chagall
not pollock, but tobey
see?
it only ends up being a
lifetime of distance between us
it only ends up being a
mistake followed
by a missed opportunity
a phone call that
no one answers
a letter written but
never sent
and are you someone who
would apologize to
empty space?
are you a better god?
it’s not answers i’m after
here, but actions
it’s an admission of regret,
but then what?
time is the enemy
the future holds the end
you can only admit to
love or deny it
you can only accept
the answer
is this why we spend our
whole lives afraid?
Read more of John’s poetry at The Bleeding Horse, Avenged
Poems by John Sweet – “one for the disappeared visionary” and “one of us speaking without bitterness to the other” May 12, 2020
Posted by vscorpiozine in John Sweet, poems, poetry, Veteran Poets.Tags: John Sweet, poems, poetry, poets from New York state
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one for the disappeared visionary
all clocks stopped in this well-lit
room i dream and these doors that
never quite open or close as i
try to tell you i love you
these men who step out from behind
their own shadows holding faded
pictures of missing children,
holding blank sheets of paper,
and so no information is exchanged
no new truths are created and
none of our passing days
add up to a life
all acts of faith
fall short in the end
one of us speaking without bitterness to the other
and hate is a castle
yes
and all pain passes
believe in sorrow and
in broken locks
believe in windows thick with frost or
ones streaked with dust
paint the walls blue
let the roof collapse
my gift to you will always mean
nothing if
nothing is
what your life has become
BIO
John Sweet sends greetings from the rural wastelands of upstate NY. He is a firm believer in writing as catharsis, and in the continuous search for an unattainable and constantly evolving absolute truth. His latest poetry collections include HEATHEN TONGUE (2018 Kendra Steiner Editions) and A FLAG ON FIRE IS A SONG OF HOPE (2019 Scars Publications).
Poems – “Found/Lost” and “The Sound” by John Sweet February 14, 2019
Posted by vscorpiozine in John Sweet, poems, poetry, Veteran Poets.Tags: John Sweet, poems, poetry
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found/lost
was talking about this dog on fire
was talking about nixon
or cobain or
some other suicide
last day of july and
the smell of all those bodies
rising from the river
your pale breasts cupped
in my blistered hands
more beauty in this
world than i
could ever describe
the sound
was talking about
clouds in the moonlight
was drinking you like
holy wine, like poison laced
with strawberries
had almost forgotten
everything i’d
wanted to
John’s poetry collections are available on Amazon.com and issuu.com
John’s blog is The Bleeding Horse, Avenged
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