Author: John Kruschke

Poetry

Stratigraphy

This poem is formatted in a shape resembling a rock formation. It is intended to be read first as in standard English, left to right, top to bottom. Then read again bottom to top, and right to left, as a geologist would read strata. gods      the of       valley     monumental a  sustaining   I.V.     an from    drips       like justified     center solo        stacked […]

Poetry

At the Window

I pray to the Invisible: Please protect usfrom blizzard and hail, from blaze and swelter,from flying insects that sting and swarm,from pestilence and sulfurous miasma,and from the crowded bluster and welter. But let us see the light,through your architectured frame,of sun, of stars, of moon, of clouds,of dappled leaves, of shimmering creek,and all your gentle creatures without names. And give […]

Poetry

Any Time Spent

Any time spentNot making babies.Or not making money. Any time spentNot tilling the soil.Or not dancing the floor. Any time spentNot watching the sunset.Or watching the sunset. Any time spentNot being outraged.Or being outraged. Any time spentBeing forced to choose.Or regretting your choice. Any time spentHaving no choice.Or lamenting your fate. Any time spentGoing on living.Or giving up.

Climate, Poetry

Carbon Footprints of Unwanted Children

I can’t put my finger on it, when did itchange? I would ride my bike miles fromhome, even at night and in rain. No oneworried, I would just roam. It ended, maybe,with a spoonful of cereal and a half gallon offear, the milk carton asking, feral and wild:“Have you, have you, seen this child?” When did having children become animposition? […]