Grief
Bitter at the calendar, those red-marked days and
Turned pages, bitter at the window’s light and
The light switch in an empty room, bitter at the moon
And Taurus and Cancer and astrology’s best guesses,
Bitter at a broken dial radio and a working faucet
And soap not strong enough for every stain
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Mike James makes his home outside Nashville, Tennessee. He has published in numerous magazines, large and small, throughout the country. His many poetry collections include: Leftover Distances (Luchador), Parades (Alien Buddha), Jumping Drawbridges in Technicolor (Blue Horse), and Crows in the Jukebox (Bottom Dog.)