John Libertus

John Libertus Poems

I remember feeding you and talking,
in the silence that the stroke
left you for speech, trying to tell you
what I had tried for decades
...

You left the door half-closed behind you,
I keep it that way, still,
and sometimes look through it to find you,
and sometimes wonder if I will
...

If bread is all, baby,
the fat man on the corner
has a ticket to heaven
in his billfold -
...

4.

I am Sakala Shiva, Father of Wounds,
Full-Moon Shiva, One with the Mother, I kill to save -

don't worry about it, it's gonna get better
...

5.

I saw them on the sidewalk, man and wife and little girl,
and, like the rightful man I am, I smiled
at the little girl's sweet innocence,
and glanced at the man;
...

no point in waiting,
the wind is rising;
I'm going, and I don't know where -
...

I've often thought of how my old man died:
a cancer, they said, shaped like a star,
grew in his brain, and fed upon
what he could call himself
...

I wake alone in the afternoon, a strong wind is blowing -
the forecast says colder tonight;
after all these weeks of hiding in greyness,
the sky has cleared to a mystery,
...

My Darling, you lived so much of your life
like a bird on the ground,
cheerfully busy, knowing
that much of the beauty,
...

If I must dance in the dark
then you lead
until we turn again
...

I was out ridin' the dog
good-lookin' dog
big, ol' black dog
good friend of mine
...

In the country of the mind
in the town
there is a nameless bridge
the neighbors call 'the bridge'
...

I'm still a happy man
because I'm still in love
and where I stand
even death can't stand against me
...

Did you ever wonder what became of me?
I went where tomorrow never comes,
where there's no yesterday to ache for.
I went to sleepy afternoons
...

15.

How easily do the young and very old
accept profundity; so many in between
will not choose heaven til it wear their dream.
...

familiarity breeds the everyday;
I want a place,
I'm looking for someplace
...

I can't see up close, anymore, without glasses;
I think that's why I bought the motorcycle.
Now, when I wake alone, in the dark before dawn,
instead of wondering why God left me here,
...

Through the window blows the chilly autumn wind,
bringing fresh memories of summer’s sweetness;
across the years since boyhood,
all the hours of solitude
...

at the restaurant, he pays the bill while she strolls on ahead,
knowing he's going to smile when he looks at her again -

at the checkout, she pays for the groceries
...

First, you die to the world, and then
the world dies
October burns
...

The Best Poem Of John Libertus

The Song Of The Unicorn

I remember feeding you and talking,
in the silence that the stroke
left you for speech, trying to tell you
what I had tried for decades
to put in words:
you're my sweet treasure, you're the Gift
Love gave to me, and in this tiny room,
with nothing to show for hope,
the only faith of Man
expressed in Food Stamps,
as I bathe you, and for you, open the window
to birdsong, and fresh, spring air,
no man's riches compare with mine.

It was so hard on you;
so little you could give,
save what you did:
trying to start all over,
willing to learn how to kiss me again.
When you stopped breathing,
you gave that little gasp
as if at something just revealed,
and though I found your heartbeat gone
and was left there in the cold,
begging with my fist, I still remember
what you told me of something just revealed.

The day we met,
we chose us, each, the other:
when you woke, bleeding in your brain,
and the doctors and the nurses said
you would not think again,
I told you what I tell you now:
I will not leave you,
and where you go
I will follow:
you're my sweet treasure,
you're the Gift
Love gives to me.

John Libertus Comments

Royce hutchison 08 February 2019

Been a long time John.... Call me sometime 4175593276

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