If You Find No Poem
If you find
no poem on
your doorstep
in the morning,
no paper, no knock on your door,
and your life is poorly edited
but no broken dashes
or injured meter
and you don’t wear white
dresses late in life
embroidered with violet
flowers on the collar;
nor do you have
burials daily
across main street,
and no one whispers
in your ear, Emily Dickinson—
you feel alone—
but not reclusive—
the sand lady
still sleeping in your eyes—
wiping your tears away—
if you find
no poem on
your doorstep—
you know you're not
from New England.
MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON is a poet and freelance writer from Itasca, Illinois. He is heavily influenced by Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, and Allen Ginsberg. His new poetry chapbook with pictures titled From Which Place the Morning Rises and his new photo version of The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom are available at Lulu. The original version of The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom can be found at iuniverse. He also has 2 previous chapbooks available at Lulu.
Michael has been published in over 22 countries. He is also editor/publisher of four poetry sites, all open for submission, which can be found at his Web site. All of his books are now available on Amazon.com, Borders, and You-Tube. E-mail: promomanusa@gmail.com. Audio Mp3 poems available; open to interviews.
