Kelly Jolene

Your Dying Poetry

(a response to Cody Taylor)

Your poetry sleeps in the gutter;
there is no bed for its growling.
It wanders around the living room,
looking for crumbs.

Your poetry licks its wounds.
You tell it to stop but
It never listens to you.

You look at your poetry
as if it doesn’t know your name.
It stares back.

When you look into the mirror
when you cut your hair
when you crack and dismantle,

your poetry crawls to your feet.

And my poetry,
it leans against your door.
It knocks softly and slinks away.

I do not know anymore who is who.
I do not know your name.
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Kelly Jolene resides in East Tennessee and spends time writing and building things. She studied at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga under Richard Jackson . . . “who is an important influence in my poetry and life” — Kelly