MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON

MICHAEL

LEE JOHNSON

EVERYTHING RED FOR THE QUEEN

Everything is red

in the kingdom of the queen.

Matador hat with barnacles,

witch white hair to the shoulders,

tickling the breast.

In her eyes are the blood shot

of many vampires;

in her heart the daggers

of many soldiers.

Five inky fingers

cross her throat

like an ill-fitted necklace.

Her dress is like heart charms,

scales of fish dripping

blood toward her toes.

Withy, twists around her throat.

Anglers of the court toss hooks

toward her cherry red lips,

capture the moment

of the haze of purple

surrounding her head.

Everything is red

in the kingdom of the queen.

Death changes colors from red to blue.

(Author's notes:  this poem was developed from a picture that is available.)

THE MARCH OF THE EMPEROR PENGUINS

Emperor Penguins never set feet on land,

straight up their feet on ice, tuxedo's with short feathers

overlapped, waterproofed, inner down layers insulated with air.

Heads bobble fat fannies waddle, the march to the homeland begins.

70 miles the clan walks and slides away from the sea and back to the sea.

70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent, Antarctica cradles up the South Pole.

High step, searching for partners for one year, away from predators, the mating party begins.

Mutual sex they turn check format a goal, breed their young, months of illness, hurt, struggles, isolation, separation face in the winter the great white ghost of death.

Starvation is a 2-way trip the male is the mother 120 days, mother goes for food-

at one point tough they all must go back to the ocean and sea.

Emperor Penguins they dance and huddle.

Back they go to the ice, to the flow, and sea 50/50, millions of years ago.

WHISPERS FROM THE GRAVE

(Heart attack 50 years of age)

What happened to 20 acres of farmland tilted toward sun angles,

those sharp stone edges cool fall comes

frost fields covered taking ownership of rented, abused, abandoned land−

10 years Phil has been gone, DeKalb, Illinois farmer.

Did he find salvation in those gold cornfields?

October orange colors, hayrides, and pumpkin harvest

of grey, grave bones buried near the deadly bicycle ride.

Mystery did his lover Betsy

(defense, prosecuting attorney, Elgin, Illinois)

stand by his site after she went through mourning,

the grandstanding at the wake at the farm,

the dimming of all candles, incenses, and memorial shrine

she held sacred within her bedroom walls, now faded.

MOUNT PLEASANT CEMETERY (V2)

Gravediggers uprooting caskets

with sharp, steel shovels-

each slicing step downward

through nerve-rooted earth

cooper pennies jingle in change

pouches dangling by their sides.

They chat casually of Jesus,

His painless resurrection

from the sealed tomb,

money-changers being chased

away from God’s holy temple.

MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON

(Toronto, Ontario Canada)

MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam era. He is a Canadian and USA citizen. Today he is a poet, editor, publisher, freelance writer, amateur photographer, small business owner in Itasca, Illinois.  He has been published in more than 935 small press magazines in 29 countries, and he edits 10 poetry sites.  Author's website http://poetryman.mysite.com/.  Michael is the author of The Lost American:  From Exile to Freedom (136 page book) ISBN:  978-0-595-46091-5, several chapbooks of poetry, including From Which Place the Morning Rises and Challenge of Night and Day, and Chicago Poems.  He also has over 118 poetry videos on YouTube as of 2015:  https://www.youtube.com/user/poetrymanusa/videos.   Michael Lee Johnson, Itasca, IL, nominated for 2 Pushcart Prize awards for poetry 2015 & Best of the Net 2016.  Visit his Facebook Poetry Group and join https://www.facebook.com/groups/807679459328998/.   He is also the editor/publisher of anthology, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530456762.  A second poetry anthology, Dandelion in a Vase of Roses, Editor Michael Lee Johnson, is due for a February or March 2017 release.