Sunday, October 2, 2022

Two Poems by J.B. Hogan

 
Falling Back

Down any road, back country or town,
grass pushes at concrete,
trees form lush canopies,
taking back what had been
surrendered unwillingly,
reverting, decaying, letting go
order, structure, seeking
primal existence, wild,
unbound, untamed,
before thought or reason,
before plan or hope,
before vision or design.




Nairobi to Amboseli

Down Highway 104, narrow blacktop road,
Nairobi to Mombasa through
semi-arid land of grazing animals,
tribal herdsmen tending cattle
one, tall, thin Masai cow tender
jogging toward the road from far afield
playful, aggressive, spear launched
at passive vehicle, laughing
waiving, scaring up a dik-dik
hiding in the bush.
On to Kajiado through Arizona-like terrain and
toward the Tanzania border;
Namanga, Mt. Meru in the distance hovering,
tourist town, turn off for Amboseli,
long dirt road to lodge, a dry land,
dust devils in the distance, 
whirlwinds rising into the sky,
half-filled lodges below Kilimanjaro,
its peaks under foggy shroud,
animals on the plains, tourist vehicles
clogging roads, lion kills,
bright sun slowly burning clouds
to reveal the great mountain's Kenyan peaks:
mighty Kibo, the lesser Mawenzi,
towering over the plain, their dual power
awesome, majestic, image seared in
eye and forever sight.




J.B. Hogan has published over 290 stories and poems in eleven books, including Bary Harbor, Bounty Riders, Time and Time Again, Mexican Skies, Tin Hollows Living Behind Time, Losing Cotton, The Rubicon, Fallen, The Apostate, and Angels in the Ozarks (nonfiction, local professional baseball history).  He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.





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