Johnny Horton — The Monarch Review
Three Poems – Johnny Horton
Monday, October 5, 2015 11:42 — 0 Comments
Lovebirds What we declare often sounds bizarre. Cowbirds sing titi, titi, titi. European starlings laugh out loud. As mother of Imperial Rome, Livia kept nightingales caged. Captivity inspires beautiful songs. The New Zealand kakapo digs an amphitheater in the hills, transmits beat-boxing for as far as four miles. Most passionate singers will not fly off. Elvis gurgled like a meadowlark, shook his pelvis for the chicks. Certain chickens hatch without a cock. Let’s talk turkey: Great tits eat bats. We make cocktail hour happy. Spread the word by tweet. My turtle dove knows the way home by heart. […]
What am I?
Bioluminescent eye
That sees by the shine
Of its own light. Lies
Blind me. I am the seventh human sense
And my stepchild,
Consequence;
Scientists can't find me.
Januswise I make us men;
Glamour
Was my image then—
Remind me:
The awful fall up off all fours
From the forest
To the hours…
Tick, Tock: Divine me.
-- Richard Kenney
