Ben Partenay Poems

park bench, three down
from old bill playing chess
with himself
...

I tried to
fly an albatross
on a string
cage a lion
...

it was jon I was talking
to, when he brought up
vietnam and how he
flew planes back then
...

nighttime comes, an old friend
moonlight on piano keys smile.
I do not know how long it’s been,
other than awhile.
...

i picture you
on an old swing
writing mad poems
about leaving this
...

it was a black night it was
full of everything that fear
is made of or wishes to.
...

some days I wait for the fog to roll in
wait for the river to carry the clouds home
wait for the bridge to turn invisible
I walk and watch the bell tower disappear
...

haphazard photographs flash smiles in black
and white, show old men smoking life away

I read news printed in dark ink
...

bricks break, spread patterns around picture
frames, spider webs leading up, down, in

and the sidewalk breaks below, with pounds
...

It was the lamplight
the taciturn shadows mocking
each other.
The long gone looks of everywhere.
...