Hoa Lo

The cattle, he said,

kept me sane. The chewing,

he said, my God!

The chewing, you just wouldn't,

well you wouldn't!

Who could?

Nobody could,

but understand,

just merge your mind and

understand, he said,

the chewing was just so perfect!

So relaxed, it reduced the world

from an endless autobiography

of insanity

to a neat and clean

piece of paper

and, he said,

I tried to fold along the crisp lines

just like the guards taught me

in Hoa Lo

between beatings.

Did you manage to birth

an animal from the world

I asked? He said, no,

I tried to make a cow

but he had such sad eyes

and I could never get the mouth

quite right.

© Joshua Potter 2010

The Difference

On the one hand,
the trick to waiting is
learning only to wait
with patience,
and perhaps grace,
for moments that feel
like Easter eggs
in your sweaty, anxious palms.

On the other,
the trick to breathing
is never to do it
underwater.

© Joshua Potter 2010

Of children trapped in the bodies of bears

I’m not saying it’s anybody’s fault.
The glass in the bathtub, the windy stares;
these are just the inevitable ends of anger stalled,
of children trapped in the bodies of bears.
Our frames too large to hold the swellings of innocence,
our bones too used to the easy sway of icy caves.

© Joshua Potter 2010

A Shaded Glance

I've been trying for a number of years to "get published," to get my writing out in the world in some sort of meaningful way (and, of course, to get paid for doing so) with varying degrees of success.

But it occurred to me today that I don't just want to get published. I want to share the dreams and ideas that come to me and beg for creation.

So I'm going to do that, here. I chose the title "A Shaded Glance" because, for me, that is the image that came to mind when I thought about beginnings. Evidently my romance-addled brain thought I was talking about relationships, which, to be fair, I guess I am in a way. As far as I'm concerned, in one way or another, there is precious little to life other than relationships.


Here are some poems, bits of thought, and the like. Feel free to comment, or not, as you see fit.

And remember, all work is under copyright by me, the author.