Easter Morning
Daddy
Idaho is Starvation
A Long-Handled Spoon
The Desert
Little Kids
In Pocatello
jesus was dead
his beer belly out
his pants
his fat ass
not thinking about easter
or the overtime
a beautiful chickenshit
in spring.
the wrong song
a whiskey chaser of belief
the first hard frost
of past & future.
the crumbs of promise
poverty builds mountains
coyote songs
no one stays
to pay the beast.
the big lost river
is still your body
the old fisher king
there’s water
in idaho
the hand of god
exchanges rain.
this town
a little good dirt
dad caught a train
into manhood
& jumped off.
stripped
moaning
hands in pockets
the shouts
the beatings
a wine jug
of hot wind.
embree haunts the cold railroaders
stoned by local magic
a beer that no one touches.
John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory, (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015) Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Poetry, 2017),Your Daughter's Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019), Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Afterlife Karaoke (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2021) and Sundown at the Redneck Carnival, (Spartan Press, 2022). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.
