Three Poems by Michael Lee Johnson

Old Hens and Young Folks

Why do hens' cry-
socialize in familiar doctor offices.
The smell and the scent of times unchanged.
Those medical lab tests, the slap on bandages;
those stale magazines, edges folded back, undeclared ownership.
Seek nuclei redemption in prayer books of the New Testament.
I find them there beside me in seated chairs and wheelchairs that roll.
Why do old hens' cry?
Those berries and nuts buried beneath their dentures.
Bingo dancers, Wednesday bingo players,
the old hens read books, the young folks
handheld iPad wallet size,
space readers, internet of the universe unfolds.



Pentecostal Midnight Laughter

I laugh drunk
in the spirit, hands held high
Vodka vipers in air in prayer
invasion of the Pentecostal dancers,
baby rabbits holding hands in the aisle ways--
still no Jesus in the mushrooms
no Jesus in the Kale or Collard greens, or the red peppers,
two egg yolks post notes up yellow like young breasts
think they rule over my omelet, no cheddar cheese,
jaded and intoxicated.
I tinkle, shake it, and then bed, I go.
omellete@3.am.



Arctic Chill North

Alberta arctic chill froze my life into exile.
North Saskatchewan River crystallize frozen thick.
My life entombed 10 years, prairie path thorns,
a hundred threats US government, border checks run further north.
I stand still in exile, lived my life in mixture of color, tangerine moon,
hangnail in the corner of my bachelor suits for years.
I close down curtain on this chapter with an amnesty agreement, a pledge.
I close down this sunspace, northern lights,
files I never burned draft card I never tossed away.
Thieves, dawn passion, pack, go home tonight.
This hell over my head passed now a halo, child, dream, murder.
Let the flicker between notes and years die ignore spaces.
Radio sounds in my car ears on the way back home, Indiana, 1,728 miles away.





Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam era.  he is a Canadian and US citizen.  Today he is a poet, a freelance writer, amateur photographer, small business owner in Itasca, Illinois.  He has been published in more than 880 small press magazines in 27 countries, and he edits 10 poetry sites.  Author's website:  http://poetryman.mysite.com/  Michael is the author of The Lost American:  From Exile to Freedom (136 page book) ISBN:  978-0-595-46091-5, several chapbooks of poetry, including From Which Place the Morning Rises and Challenge of Night and Day, and Chicago Poems.  He also has over 83 poetry videos on YouTube as of 2015:  https://www.youtube.com/user/poetrymanusa/videos  Michael Lee Johnson has been nominated for 2 Pushcart Prize awards for poetry in 2015.