The 2River View 25.1 (Fall 2020)
 
 

Paul Jones

In Praise of Small Disturbances

My mind is not quiet.
I may look like I’m resting
here in the hammock—
one leaf then another
joining me, enjoying
the breeze and fall sun.
But I’m not like my friend
whose meditation
was ruined when a frog
plopped in his pond.
I love a circled surface,
a fish leap, an insect skim,
each new connection to this world,
more than mirrored clouds,
more than the reflected sky.
  

In The Unripe Season

The doe had become too brave,
leaving shadow for sunlight.
Once when lusty, I believed
I would follow. In hindsight,
capture was no condition
for her, for me. Now I see
listlessness is all I own.
For me, shade tenders mercy.

The bold deer's remove to light
with no snort of refusal
is a kind comfort, no last
resort, no counter to flight,
but a restless recusal—
wild on the diamond frost.
 

Paul Jones has poems in Poetry, Triggerfish Critical Review, and Unbroken; and in anthologies, including Best American Erotic Poems (1800 - Present). A manuscript of his poems crashed on the moon’s surface April 11, 2019.

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