He begins with the easy ones,
Calls them loud in his sombre drone.
Then the straining ones, still
Clear but with a hint of wonder.
Before the need for pondering takes hold:
Ms and Ns swapping places,
Followed fast by Ds and Bs,
Then Os and Qs and Cs,
Until the final line he can stagger
Might spell ‘breath’ but doesn’t.
Below, the jumble could be ‘love’,
Or ‘fault’, or even ‘guilt’.
The remaining lines a rumoured place
Of terror, worms, clay.
James Martyn Joyce is from Galway where he is a member of The Talking Stick Workshop. His first collection of poetry, Shedding Skin was published by Arlen House in 2010. His collection of short stories, What’s Not Said followed in 2012. He contributed a story and edited the dark fiction collection Noir by Noir West in 2014.
More work by James Martyn Joyce
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