JoeQuinn

"no recess"

in every elementary school in America
maybe on a friday after lunch
(rectangular pizza, pineapple ring,
and a few spoonfuls of corn)
the children come back to the room
white posterboard
a plastic container with random crayons
and dried up markers
that never get thrown away
and the teachers say
"what do you want to be
when you grow up?"

they never tell you
you'll never be
what you hope
but in Appalachia
they'll give subtle hints

when a little girl
says she wants to be a doctor
they'll ask
if she needs help
spelling V-E-T-E-R-I-N-A-R-I-A-N

when the lone black boy
says he wants to be
the president
they'll ask
if it wouldn't be more exciting
to play professional football

I remember I drew myself
as a scientist
asymetrical in a lab coat
surrounded by beakers and vials
I wanted to figure things out
I wanted to understand

but I ended up an astronaut
alone with the midnight static of a radio
drifting in a cold black place
the stars never getting any closer

and no one cares about space travel anymore

"elegy for a city"

there is no gun to your head
it's just a poltergeist
memorized movie lines
are all she ever said

I know
it's alright
if I can just stay hollow
someone
will cry
over me

phosphorescent
flourescent
effervescent
it's a ghost of color
we hold our heads up
like black and white photographs to each other

there is no gun to your head
saw an xray of the city
in the streetlights on a skin of rain
we talked the night off the ledge
and the sun from the grave

I know
it's alright
if I can just stay hollow
someone
will cry
over me

_________________________

Joe Quinn: I am a 27 year old poet. I have had 30+ poems published in, to name a few, New Millennium Writings, E2K, Poetic Voices, Skyline Magazine, Flesh from Ashes, Penwood Review, From the Asylum and Ambitions Magazine. I also have a small chapbook, Falling Down Beautiful, available for just $5 at poetrypalacegiftshop.biz.