Weight on my chest —
afternoons empty of light.
Sullen processions clog
this street of days.
Even my pen refuses
to write, this page
rejects ink. If you
went veiled at dawn
what chance the moon
might rise at night,
red as flamboyanas?
Come back from over
whatever nameless sea
you drift, and find
me naked as a window
without glass, open
to the slightest breeze.
W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. Luther’s poem “How Many Fingers’, published in Bourgeon, was nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize. His poetry performance piece, Flying to America, debuted at the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival in Washington D.C. He is the author of five poetry chapbooks: “Not Quite: Poems Written in Search of My Father”, (Finishing Line Press, 2015), and “Our Situation”, (Prolific Press, 2018), “Everyone Disappears” (Finishing Line Press, 2020), “Little Wars” (Kelsay Books, 2021), and “Watchman, What of the Night?” (CW Books, 2022). A full-length collection, “Flying to America” is scheduled for release in the spring of 2024, from Broadstone Press, while a sixth chapbook, “The Colour Wars”, will be released in the fall by Kelsay Books. Luther is also the facilitator of a monthly virtual open mike sponsored by the Hyattstown Mill Arts Project in Hyattstown, Maryland.