CANOEING ON SWAN RIVER and THIS ART WORLD by John Grey

CANOEING ON SWAN RIVER

Here, movement is a breath this side of calm.
The canoe requires nothing of us
but to lull it into current,
a lazy ripple distant from the pine-drenched bank.
Is there an opposite to spontaneous combustion?
Spur-of-the-moment tranquility perhaps.
No hawks soar, merely peek out from their nests.
Even the fish are too laid-back to breach the surface.
The kingfishers are up and about at least,
skewering a meal or two
before afternoon sun goes down,
clears the sparkling table.
And a cattle egret steps along shore edge.
Thank God for the slow ticking of its spindly legs.
How else would we tell what time it is.

THE NAMING OF THE TREES

I study the leaves and fruits in summer,
twigs and bark in winter,
the buds in April.

My fingers massage rib and blade,
achenes and samaras,
the prickles or velvety hair,
exfoliated long loose plates,
the quiet detonators of the springtime flush.

A name sprouts in my head.
My touch is pleased with what it knows.

Artist’s Statement

To me, poetry is a art form with the power to heal, to stimulate, and to provoke self-examination. It is a vehicle through which I can express and explore the unspoken, the unsaid, and the indescribable.

John Grey is Australian born short storywriter, poet, playwright, musician. Has been published in numerous magazines including Weird Tales, Christian Science Monitor, Greensboro Poetry Review, Poem, Agni, Poet Lore, and Journal of the American Medical Association. His latest books are Between Two Fires and Covert available through Amazon. Has had plays produced in Los Angeles and off-off Broadway in New York. Winner of Rhysling Award for short genre poetry in 1999.