Three Poems by James Tierney

Moving On

Safe from comments
That found their way
To the thinnest parts
Of his skin
He enjoyed the fresh start
That comes with a new city
A leaf turned on his past
A space in an improbable
Renaissance
For men like him
Blown off course
By the storm of progress
Like the rebuilding
Of a blackened ruin
A new but not flawless
Version of himself
Cautious
And undemonstrative
Wary of the demons
That waited for him
Like the skeletons
That hung inside his closet



Understanding the Appeal

Drawn to opposites
He struggled
To connect
Their differences
Her temper
Red like her hair
The shoes she wore
Out of step
Not trying to fit in
In the middle of winter
She looked like spring
As true of torture
As it is of relationships
What attracted her
Was repellent to him
Like conversations
That led to conflict
In love they spoke
Their different languages



A Red Rag to Picasso's Bull

He could with his good looks
Have done anything he wanted
At home on stage the centre
Of attention he followed
In his father's footsteps
Taking the risks
He had already
Learned to live with
Cheered on by the crowd
He raised his sword
Like he raised his sons
At his mercy it was beautiful
All powerful it was God almighty

Then a change of pose
A change of mood
In that heat in that noise
Sweat ran like rainwater
Down the forehead
Of a once younger matador
Neither ready to submit
It was consolation
To a once younger bull
To be slaughtered by a master
Who knew at the age of five
What he wanted to do
With the rest of his life

Born in Northumberland (United Kingdom), James Tierney now lives and works in Itay.  Working at the University of Milan, he specialized in the area of Business Administration.  Publications in both the UK and the USA include:  The Oracle Fine Arts Review (2016), Horrified Press, Pyrokinection and others.  In 2015, the writer was awarded first prize in the International Pendle War Poetry Competition.  In addition, he is also actively involved with public readings given at the British Councel, Milan and is currently working on the translation into English of script of a full-length independent Italian movie.