Two Poems

James B. Nicola

A shoe drops

a shoe drops. we wait
and wait and wait and wait and
that is where we live

analyze the Hand
that lets the first fall loudly
forgets the second

that we keep vigil
insomniacs unsure that
Neighbor’s still upstairs

***

I met a traveler from a modern land

I met a traveler from a modern land
who told me of the great thing his land was
not knowing what had happened to the grand,
green lady—the original—because
the very night she crumbled, overthrown
and sunk unnoticed to the harbor’s bed,
a long–since readied hologram was shone,
uncanny instant likeness, in her stead.
The hollow dame continues to hold court,
though none of course ascend her crown to gaze
on free lands anymore: There, children sport
spiked hats of foam but toss them out in days
to wash up on a shore that poets might
discover them, record the loss, and write.

James B. Nicola has had over 200 poems appear in publications including Atlanta Review, Tar River, Texas Review, Lyric, and Nimrod. A stage director by profession, his book Playing the Audience won a CHOICE Award. He also won the Dana Literary Award for poetry, was nominated for a Rhysling Award, and was featured poet at New Formalist. His children’s musical Chimes: A Christmas Vaude­ville premiered in Fairbanks, Alaska—with Santa Claus in attendance opening night.

Return