Poems by J.T. Townley
By J.T. Townley
does a dog have buddha-nature?
mu! the interrupting cow of
boyhood, long before such questions,
eating, sleeping, playing ball, like
roshi, tired from fetching,
splayed out, peaceful in
winter sun.
“The White Chickens’ Challenge”
By J.T. Townley
forget that wheel
barrow
the rain water
glaze
rusted it right
through
that’s why it’s
red
“Blue Heron Blues”
By J.T. Townley
just a name on a label
picture on a bottle of beer
I’d leave if I was able
fly away to anywhere but here
perch on a cinderblock wall
ol’ ruin of what used to be
beak-smack & send out my call
fish supper far’s the eye can see
got a brewery up the block
dump waste into my river blue
I click clatter chirp & squawk
ain’t nothin’ else for me to do
every time I gotta eat
dive into that water so brown
always leave me feelin’ beat
and so blue make me wanna drown
ardea herodias
name them ornithologists use
never found it commodious
got them bad ol’ blue heron blues
just a name on a label
picture on a bottle of beer
I’d leave if I was able
fly away to anywhere but here
- J. T. Townley has published in Harvard
Review, Kenyon Review, The Threepenny Review, and many other magazines and journals,
and his work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize (five times) and Best of
the Net award. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of
British Columbia and an MPhil in English from Oxford University, and he directs
the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies at Oregon State University.