John Grey

Write a poem about nothing.
No subject matter.
Just a few words tossed together
in your usual style.
Like how sometimes you miss breakfast
but your stomach feels full anyhow.
Or you sing along to the hymns in church
without knowing any
of the lines to the verses.
Just sit down at your usual writing desk
with pen and paper or computer
and pop down the first thing
that doesn’t come into your head.
Then expand upon this beginning
by totally ignoring it.
And expand on the expansion
with a disregard for anything
that comes before.
Like those times you’re lost
and it feels like that’s right
where you belong.
Or when you’re confronted
with a “true or false” test
and you reject either option.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
Remember, you’re working in a void.
Your presence alone goes halfway to filling it.

Categories: 9TH ISSUE, LITERATURE