for mike james
every time we got together
we argued about ezra pound
& if you were here now
i would still tell you
he was as boring as a dense fog
but contrary to popular belief
It’s the dead
who have the last word

i can still see you
sitting there at the local fair
laughing as they announced the winner
of the greased pig race
drinking cheap red wine
your heart as big a hay bale
& that’s what matters
not words flung like horseshoes
that never seem to reach
their intended targets
just you sitting there patiently
with dan up 3 days
off his meds
talking about how he was
never going to write poems again
while you squeezed his hand.

John Dorsey is the former Poet Laureate of Belle, MO. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Which Way to the River: Selected Poems: 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Sundown at the Redneck Carnival, (Spartan Press, 2022, and Pocatello Wildflower, (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2023). He may be reached at [email protected].