you
don't know
how to read
it's this growing wall
between you and the world
others find gaps but not you
cloves coves loves ovals ouvres outré out
poems are only heard knowledge only spoken seen
lies wary hard work fear of discovery try you
another job gone
another job
another
handwritten sign on the street-side someone else made
for you even here you have to trust experiment see if
they react by trickling dollars and you can maybe eat
Please
P M F Johnson has placed poetry with The Evansville Review, The Threepenny Review, North American Review, Nimrod, Midwest Quarterly, Measure, and others. He has won The Gerald Brady Senryu Award from The Haiku Society of America, and a Plainsongs Award.