GAS Featured Poet: Jim Murdoch

 

Jim Murdoch is a prolific Scottish poet. In 2025 alone, he published 140 poems and has already exceeded that this year. Over the last fifty years pieces have been accepted by respected journals such as Acumen, Stand, and—much to his own surprise—Analog, though the greater amount by far have vanished without trace. For ten years he ran the literary blog The Truth About Lies but now lives quietly in Glasgow with his wife.  He has published two books of poetry, a short story collection, and four novels.

 

 

Let Those Who Have Ears

The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both – Prov 20:12

 

I wanted to be paid attention to

not to be attractive to,

to be heard and not merely seen.

 

It is an important distinction,

not one to be glossed over

synonymically;

 

one sense is not as good as another.

I know you can see the words

but are you listening to me because

 

seeing sense is not making sense

just as passive hearing is not

active listening,

 

neither of which, now I think of it,

actually, involves or requires

ears.

 

 

Inevitability

 

We see which way the stream of time doth run – Shakespeare

 

A breakdown is

brokenness made real

even as a poem is

poetry given form.

 

Potentiality, however,

is widely misunderstood

and is routinely taken for

opportunity.

 

Life is chock-full of choices

and choices made.

It's not that complicated

when you think about it.

 

Of course, choice isn't

a guarantee but it does

demonstrate intent

not that anyone plans

 

to break down or write

a poem but just because

life dumps tons of choices

In our laps doesn't mean

 

everything's a choice or

even open to consideration.

Mostly shit just happens.

Poems and breakdowns included.