IP
INQUISITION POETRY
New Writings By
Christine A Perry and Michael Lee Johnson
For All to Know
By Christine A Perry
As time goes by
We learn not to cry So hard
Nor each and everyday
Tears build strength
To hold at bay
The hurt that tries
To come my way
Marked for life
I wear my skin
The masks I wear
Help me fit in
Hold on tight
To a self-that’s true
No need to always
Be so blue
Thinking it Through
By Christine A Perry
The wind whips through all of me
I feel as cold as I can be
Wind buffeting hair into my face
Tears streaming down without a trace
Bereft of all help dear to me
I stand here looking out onto the sea
Where shall I go
What shall I see
Wondering
If I should flee
Juice Box Girl
(After Midnight Moments)
By Michael Lee Johnson
I'm a juice box girl,
squeeze me, play me
like an accordion,
box-shaped, but gagged edges.
Breathe me inside out,
I'm nude, fruity, fractured,
strawberry melon,
nightshade wine.
Chicago, 3:00 a.m.
somewhere stranded
someone's balcony
memories undefined,
you will find me there
stretched naked, doing
the Electric Slide,
taking morning selfies
upward morning into the sun
then in shutters
closeout pictures
Chiquita bananas,
those Greek lovers
running late,
Little Village, Greektown
so many men's night faces fading out.
Wash cleanse in me.
I'm no Sylvia Plath
in an oven image of death
I resuscitate; I'm still alive.