Two Poems

by JD DeHart

Dreamed

A new door opened

to a new opportunity

beside the slow river

I once knew

In my dream, I sped

down past the place I

swung heavy on grapevines,

ran to the sound of leaves

breaking apart underfoot

            to find this place

caught slimy creatures

in murky water, imagining

the large fish I would catch,

then dreamed of my brother

catching a larger fish

            still larger

It swam after mine, still life,

never catching up.

Ephemera

Gathered pages tell a story,

but it is not the narrative I

expected – where is the character

I once met?

He lies in silent repose.

All the contents seem

stained with an ugly truth;

all I wanted was soft fiction,

gossamer verbiage,

comforting gospel colloquialism,

old friends.

When I reach the end (I cannot

wait for the last page), I imagine

a sense of relief, a sense of hunger

for the plot I wanted,

a desire I know I will never satisfy

to rewrite the lines, but they will

always appear the same.

JD DeHart is a writer and teacher.  His chapbook, The Truth About Snails, is available on Amazon and his main blog is jddehartwritings.blogspot.com.