Bio
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in California Quarterly, Birmingham Arts Journal, La Presa and Shot Glass Journal.
Trigger Warning
Her last night
was ordinary,
except for her dying of course,
which made the owl’s hoot
more of a tolling bell
than a mating cry.
It made me look twice
at the items on her dresser.
Perfume sprays, photographs,
no longer odds and ends
but a body of work –
even the body itself.
She left us in
such an unrehearsed state –
being alive when she wasn’t.
She was infinity
whatever the definition.
We couldn’t decide
whether to be jealous or afraid.
And we were witness to her passing,
a family brought together,
fighting for bedside space
to be first to see her soul depart.
She said something
none of us clearly heard
then closed her eyes and slept –
around the clock,
around a million clocks.