Shishir 2025 Poems - J. L. Yocum

 

Variations on a Theme by Lewis Carroll
By J. L. Yocum

 

Why is a grappling hook like a toothbrush?
Why is a chrysanthemum like a hand
grenade? Why is my beating heart
like the surprise in your voice? Why

is a terracotta soldier like the cat on my lap?
Why is a falling knife like the sound of breaking
glass? Why is a stab of lightning
like a peal of glad laughter that splinters

into gnarled fingers clawing against the black
thick curtain of night?

 

J. L. Yocum is a musician and poet living in Brooklyn, US. He holds a B.A. in English Composition, concentration Poetry, from the University of North Texas. His poems have appeared in Albatross, The Orchards Poetry Journal, ionosphere and The Big Windows Review. His musical endeavors span a few decades and a handful of projects, including work on the soundtrack of at least one award-winning film. He pays the rent working in a fine-art-adjacent industry and splits the bills with his wife and their indolent marmalade tabby.

 

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