Jason K. Dove, 26, lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in America's South. A chef by profession, Jason finds time to fill countless notebooks with thoughts and diatribes of "all makes and manners, shapes, forms, and most importantly voices of different times and growth periods." We share one of his recent poems, "The Walk Home."

 

 

I remember what I want to
feel about that walk I took
that night, the cold wind
whipping my ears into
submission, forcing me to hear
myself, telling me to go home

The street lamps didn't provide
illumination the way I needed it
to, leaving shadows in plain view
of all the creepy crawlies that come
out at night to hunt and feed
on the fears of little children

From down the way I saw him coming
towards me, a cock strong limp
in his step, his skin as black
as those shadows, in plain view
as well as shining so bright, reflecting
the light away from natural absorption

A simple word he spoke, complicating
matters worse, as if numb ears
and five miles from home weren't bad
enough. I chose to walk on down
the road, a path that I had chosen,
then he made a choice for me to choose

The far off echo of gun shots
reminded me of death and fear
crept into to the both of us, reminding
our simple genetic memories that
escape from our existence simple,
simply wasn't possible through technology

The decision or division between us
could have been one of color or variances
in the shades of light, or perhaps one
or both of us walked in shadows
that did not allow for us to see
one another in simple moonlight

He drew the knife and a picture
perfect image of what was to come
to mean to me the least. I took
that knife from him as well as his choices,
the ones he had given me that night
or perhaps it was simply fate

A flash of warmth, the penetration of flesh
as innocent as the virgin I was, brought to me
the stains of blood that were to change my direction
or at least the path I used to walk home. It and I were
a bit different than our usual. I suppose a new
life was on its way, maybe mine, or maybe not.

 

photograph by Kevin Scofield, Seattle, Washington

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