John Yamrus has published 20 volumes of poetry and 2 novels. He has also had more than 1,400 poems published in print magazines around the world. His latest book, BARK, is a collection of poems about man’s best friend. His website is johnyamrus.com.
*****

when i die,

do
me
a
favor
and
do
not
write
R.I.P.
on
the
rear
window
of
your
car.
***

sometimes

the
poem
asks
to not
be
written.
it’s
there,
but
i
respect
its
silence.
***

when i said to Frankie

the internet poet,
that posting poems
on the net
is a monumental waste of time
and talent, and does
nothing at all
for book
sales,
he said
he didn’t
care a thing
for sales, and
more often than not
he traded copies of his
books
for books by
other guys (who i’m sure
are also
internet poets).
he said
he wasn’t in it
for the pay day…
he just wanted to
share his gift
with the
world.
let
that
give him
something
to think about
the
next time
the gas bill’s
due.
***

i love you

at
70
miles
an
hour,
in
traffic,
on
the
Schuylkill expressway,
when
everything
else
around
me
has turned to
madness,
spilled wine
and
fear.
***

until

a
few
days ago,
my favorite
first line
from a
novel
was the Bukowski book
that
started out:
“It began as a mistake.”
now,
my favorite
first line in a novel
comes from Peter Pan,
which reads:
“All children, except one, grow up.”
and that’s
really
the
only
mistake.
Cultural Weekly is proud to premiere these poems in this edition.