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Monday, January 20, 2020

Featuring John Yamrus



Tommy

lay
back
against
the rock,

and,
putting
his hands
behind his head

said

man,
i could use
me some more of

that
Joanie...

she
sure was
something,

wasn't she?

her
and that
red hair of hers.

......................................................................

Peggy

had
a tooth
missing in front, 
and when she talked, 

it 
made 
a whistle. 

Peggy Whistle was 43, 
loved Scotch, 
and 

worked nights 
at the D&J Diner.  

she 
also loved 
her little dog, Blue.  

Blue 
came to 
work with her 
and slept on a ratty 
old pillow in the back, 

lifting 
his head up 
every time the door 
opened and the bell above it rang.  

Peggy never whistled any tunes, 

although
you can’t say
she didn’t know any.              

there 
was that one 
her father taught her...

you know the one...

about 
that road to 
wherever the hell it went.

names didn’t matter much to Peg.

nothing 
did, except 

for Blue
and the sound of that bell,

and 
a ring 
that she wore 

on
her hand
after work.

she 
got it
from Tim,

or 
Romeo,

or 
Bill...

or 
whatever the hell 
was the name of that dear, 

sweet man.

...................................................................................................

puke-green

was 
his favorite color.  

it 
was also 
his favorite word 

(or, 
words, if
you wanted to 
get technical about it). 

anyway, 
it was kinda sorta fitting
that he had already turned his
favorite color that Sunday morning 

when 
they found him
face down under the Penn Street Bridge.  


John Yamrus…Bio

In a career spanning 50 years as a working writer, John Yamrus has published 25 volumes of poetry, 2 novels, 2 volumes of non-fiction and a children’s book. He has also had more than 2,000 poems published in magazines and anthologies around the world. Selections of his work have been translated into several languages, including Spanish, Swedish, French, Japanese, Italian, Romanian, Albanian, Estonian and Bengali. His poetry is taught in numerous colleges and universities. His website is: http://www.johnyamrus.com

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