6 February 2010 | Vol. 9, No. 4
The Bringer
– for August Adams
you show up with pockets full of water: but what everyone notices is your large ears: someone whispers donkey: and gets the reply you mean like in Midsummer's Night Dream?: so what if you are different: you resent people jumping to conclusions: like frogs on lily pads: he must be a throw-back: you roll your eyes: no, you are not an ass: and neither are your parents: why doesn't he have surgery to remove those?: you came to this dry town: this terrible season of drought: pockets brimming with water: you raise your hands to the sky: you say a prayer: asking the universe to help these poor people: what did he say?: whispered in fear: and when you lower your hands: the water spills from your pocket: you bow your head: standing in at the bend: of your river
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About the author:
J. P. Dancing Bear's most recent poetry collections are Conflicted Light (SalmonPoetry, 2008), Gacela of Narcissus City (Main Street Rag, 2006), Billy Last Crow (Turning Point, 2004), and What Language (Slipstream, 2002). His poems have been published in Shenandoah, Poetry International, New Orleans Review, National Poetry Review, Marlboro Review, Mississippi Review, Verse Daily, and many others. He is the editor of the American Poetry Journal and the independent press Dream Horse Press. He is also the host of "Out of Our Minds," a weekly poetry program that features many of America's contemporary poets on public radio station KKUP.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by J. P. Dancing Bear at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 9, No. 4, where "The Bringer" ran on February 6, 2010. List other work with these same labels: poetry, prose poem.
