John Yamrus is widely recognized as master of minimalism and the neo-noir in modern poetry. In a career spanning more than 50 years as a working writer, he has had more than 3,500 poems published in books, magazines and anthologies around the world. His writing is often taught in college and university courses. Three of his more than 40 books have been published in translation. His newest book of poems is DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER: JUST GIVE HIM A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE.
for Tony it was
all 60s music...
Archie Bell And The Drells...
The Stones...
Smokey...
that
was all he
needed to get right.
that, and
his little dog Tail.
Tail
didn’t have any.
He also didn’t have a back leg.
Tony
didn’t care.
Neither did Tail.
and they’d
sit out back, and
listen to music and drink beer.
Tail
did, too.
he’d get a
splash in his bowl
a couple times a day and
loved it just as much as Tony did.
for
Tail and Tony
it never got any better than that.
it didn’t have to.
Gedda’s was
this little
shot and beer joint
our parents used to take us to
when
we were kids.
me and my sister.
i was
maybe 5 and
we’d sit with them
at the end of the bar and
Mrs. G would give us nickels
that we’d
put in the machine
to get those red pistachios
and
my father
showed us how
to tip the machine
and turn the crank real slow
to get the most out of it
and
they’d sit
and talk and drink
and
i know
it had to be
the afternoon
because i remember
the light coming in from the street
and
it was red
because of the glass
and
so were
our hands
from the nuts
and
they were
probably drunk
when
we left,
because it was 1956
and that was what you did
when
you had a
couple of bucks
and
a day off
and
no one there
to watch the kids.
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