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Poetry

Ensabled Night


CW: none.


The opening line is my riff on Bach’s chorale prelude “Come, Sweet Death,” one of his most profound. The foxfur wings I feel come from Well’s “In the Avu Observatory,” a surrealistic short story where an astronomer in the islands of Indonesia is attacked by a large flying bat-creature. The last stanza is Dante, by way of Eliot’s “Waste Land.” Pound said to make it new. So I did.

—JRT

come ensabled night

and spread your foxfur wings
about me
only in darkness
when I blink my eyes and see
nothing
only then
do all those gone
visit me

I never wished
to unknow
so many.

John R. Turner

John R. Turner taught at Scott Community College for 38 years. He began live theater there and founded the school literary magazine, editing it for three decades. He has also served as associate poetry editor of STIRRING on line since it began in 1999. Twenty-three of his plays have been produced in the Quad Cities. During that period, he also won the first poetry slams held in Davenport, Moline, and at St. Ambrose University, as well as the first slams ever held on line. He ran a slam room for Warner Brothers for five years. his poetry and stories have appeared in Black&White, The Poet, Lyrical Iowa, Kaleidoscope, Astronomy, Haiku Hut, the Urbanite and other venues for the last half century. In retirement, he’s kept himself busy by putting over 750 reviews of his favorite books on his Facebook page.

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