JD DEHART - POEMS

JD DeHart is a writer and teacher.  His chapbook, The Truth About Snails, is available on Amazon.  DeHart's poems have appeared in a variety of places, including Gargouille and The Other Herald.

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                                    Needless to Say

It almost goes without
saying, but the phrase is still
offered.  I can respect that.

I respect a word that stands
up for itself, unflinching
in the barren air, filling
a formerly empty space.

This is the fear of first
utterance, of composing on
a blank line, the challenge
of words on a page.


                                                   Seeker

​
Let me lie here
a while, another moment,
and soak in the search,
my face in plush carpet,
calling down epic
fire from the sky
or just a bit of breeze,
listening to the calls
around me of the other
seekers, reaching
for solace and heaven,
reaching, up and up,
past plaster, past
chandelier, past roof
and cloud and vapor.


                                       Underground Poet


Words travel in traces
around the web, dotted
here and there,
among other common
voices.  

Featured on this page,
do they notice, do they
like, do they...
and is that what composing
is about?  Pleasing others?

A sound that's heard
or a word that fills a screen?
There must be a weight
to the ink beyond audience.



                                                           I


Go on, speak,
I record, I jot, I take note.
Fill this room with story.
I will simply ask, What do
you want others to know?
Then do my best to listen,
lean in, intent, nod.
Jot a note.  It will hopefully
make sense later.
Tell me more about that.
And when did you first
know.  And what is your
greatest love.  Tell me
as much as you want.
I'll do my best to represent
it later, somewhere else.