Spring Clean

On a day of April light, scalpel sharp

I cleared my draw of receipts, tickets

Of fragments, tiny teardrops of poetry,

Contorted collage of narrative and dreams

Half stifled screams, image and resonance.

It leaked reminiscence, revived

Odd moments from my own mythology,

Dissipated love and death together

Torn, fading scraps, burnished with regret,

Pages shivering with souls deceived.

I weeded it in stages, discarding,

Deep piles, all except the most assured,

Marginalia, the rest just tossed,

Falling easily, like loves confetti,

Into the shredder of oblivion.

John Stocks

John is a widely published and anthologised writer from the UK. Recent credits include an appearance in, ‘Soul Feathers’ a poetry anthology, alongside Maya Angelou, the English poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, Bob Dylan , Len Cohen, Rimbaud and Verlaine. This anthology was the second best selling poetry anthology in the UK in January, is raising money for cancer care, and can be ordered online from Waterstones UK. He also features in ‘This island City’, the first ever poetry anthology of poetry about Portsmouth, also available from Waterstones. In 2012 John will be launching a collaborative novel, ‘Beer, Balls and the Belgian Mafia’, inspired by three of his primary interests.