ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Ron Mohring is the author of Survivable World (Washington Prize) and of four chapbooks, including The David Museum (New Michigan Press) and Touch Me Not (Two Rivers Review). A Cincinnati native, he returned to his hometown after 30 years in Texas and Pennsylvania. Ron is the indefatigable force behind Seven Kitchens Press.
The Surrogate
There were no small sorrows then,
only children too small to contain them.
But he taught me to read and write.
A kind of sanctuary, you say, and I can't
disagree. Home-not-home. Sweetened poison.
The intercom. His two-note whistle,
checking in. The lock button kept
the channel open.
In the photo you are five, maybe four.
It had already started.
I remember those red sweaters.
On the back porch he whistled twice
then shushed me: Listen!
Nothing at first, then the same notes
in the trees,
the scarlet flash of cardinals
swooping low, dropping to the steps
for flung seed.
Their black masks never slipping.
Glass: A Journal of Poetry is published monthly by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
