John W. Sexton

The Unanswered

wasps’ papier-mâché

puppet of god ... wasps

is the sound of wasps

meadow shattercups

turn blue as men tread, blue ...

men when they turn, turn blue

the clay

in her teeth ... a ghost haunts

the unanswered mail

A Slow Burn

selvedge

of the reamtime ... a sprouting

of thistle-cherub

sluggish stars

smoulder their eternities ...

Lucifer a slow burn

eternal tunnels

through the undead emperor ...

his rat familiar

Mercury Girls

crisp with autumn ...

the leaf dirigible

crackles through the clouds

immolate

in the sanctity engine ... nuns

bleed light for the star run

some like it hot ...

the mercury girls

rise above us

Moist Song

bubonic-skinned ...

all they knew of beauty

was themselves

moist song of

vulva birds

sunlight through the gap

a grey dray-horse

its shadow dim ... the End

of Dull Days deadens

 

John W. Sexton is the author of four previous poetry collections, the most recent being Vortex (Doghouse, 2005) and Petit Mal (Revival Press, 2009). His fifth collection, The Offspring of the Moon, is due from Salmon Poetry in spring 2013. Under the ironic pseudonym of Sex W. Johnston he has recorded an album with legendary Stranglers frontman, Hugh Cornwell, entitled Sons Of Shiva, which has been released on Track Records. In 2007 he was awarded a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry.