Poetry

Several of CJ Clark’s poems have been published in online journals and Harbinger Asylum.

Unfolding Gravity

On the day they begged
For wings wide enough
To sweep softly into heaven
They saw it was their mother
Who had been climbing alone
To the end of the world
One step at a time

Wearing only the shape and color
Of wind while they stayed behind
Unfolding layers of gravity
Like a patchwork quilt
Sewn over stubborn creases
With thread sturdy enough
To stop them from following.

Unfolding Gravity

Dazzle

The poet in my head
Jumped off the Town Lake Bridge
An undetermined time ago
When life was so unbearably lean
That the dazzle of a Van Gogh sun
Blinded me as I walked
A mile in a dying friend’s shoes
Remembering how we’d stored
Time in boxes in the attic for later
But later never came.

Poet’s Pipe

Come here to the sea meadow
We are like blades of grass
Unrecognizable in daylight
The barkeep says life’s like that
He pours us purple wine
We turn it into cool blue
Wisdom, speaking low
In puffs of introspection
Like smoke from our poet’s pipes
How we have known of this
Felt and understood to the core
When we shut our eyes to see
Shut our mouths to think.

Raining Pears on Sunday

On Sunday
When they drove
Home from church
It was raining pears
A deafening sound
Like a million tiny dancers’
Feet pounding the earth
Filling ditches with pairs
Of pears the size
Of heavy dewdrops
Too small to be stopped
By ordinary umbrellas
The neighbor’s dog happily
Catches them on his tongue
A delicacy in the dry
Hot Texas Summer
And only a memory
By Monday morning.