JOHN VALENTINE - POEMS

I live and work in Savannah, GA, where I teach philosophy at a local college. I've had several poems published in journals such as The Sewanee Review, Southern Poetry Review, The Midwest Quarterly, and Mudlark. I've also had six chapbooks of poems published.

​Last Look

The year of the plague. Desperate
Rooms. The quick moment
As you turn away, and shining
Suddenly blurs to shadow.
Something haunting in your eyes.
Something leaving.  
The last look quivers. There for an
Instant.
Just as Death and Beauty flash
Their flames. Incandescent,
Fleeting.Holding on for a second.
Holding on.
Then letting go.

​Four O’ Clocks

As if it mattered to you, we
Accommodate. 
Your world is a clock. You
Rush faster 
Than the hours. Dawn sends
You racing
Like a madman on fire. We
Understand.
Time is bleeding for us too.
But we offer 
Respite. Do not step away
So quickly.
Wait for beauty. And the night.
This is our
Gift. Soon the days will teach
You
There is nothing else.

​