Chicago -
By J.J. Tindall
Wreck on the Highway
Punching through the post-midnight air
Comes the unmistakable sound of hurtling metal
Crunching into hurtling metal.
Not a collision; the sound of two cars
Moving fast in the same direction
Coming together violently, then
Coming to a halt.
The sounds make a clear picture.
You anticipate such things when you sleep
Fifty feet from an interstate.
You are startled if not surprised.
Posted on June 5, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
Old Main
I will always love you.
In my soul, Old Main, you are
As a pyramid: holy.
Monumentally strange
And eternally beautiful,
In any guise. Like a Frankenstein
Of good, old-fashioned government
Posted on May 10, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
People Made of Rain Could Wreck God
1
Question: What is the shape of the sky?
Answer: The sun never lies.
You can’t always
See it but the sun is always
There, always aware,
Even when spring squalls
Like black jellyfish
Dangling rain
Approach slowly
From beyond the shapeless sky.
Posted on April 18, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
Fresh Hell
Harried voices hurtle
Down my back walkway
Like dice tumbling
From a Yahtzee cup.
Between the bricks
Of this century-old multi-unit
Fortress
Posted on April 9, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
Ray Rayner & Friends
Somewhere in the back
Of my life
Is a small television studio-
Much smaller than it appears
On the air-
Where the infinite world
Of a children’s program
Runs continuously.
Posted on March 22, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
Ballistics Exonerate the Furies
Some balletic storm of wind
Has stayed the mind.
From dark silence
Comes the shadow-play
Of a short ballet.
Or is it just bullet spray
From a passing Chevrolet?
Posted on March 6, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
Lope
And the caravan
Is calling:
A train of camels lopes
Across the Sahara
Of my insomnias, train
Festooned with worn tassels,
Cheap rope and tattered rugs.
A couple camels
Carry supplies, of course:
Grass, seeds and grains for them,
Fruit, jerky and water for me.
Posted on February 13, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
Damocles in K-Town
A sharp sword dangles
Just above my head now,
Hung from a low, dark cloud
By a single strand
Of horse tail.
I can feel it
But can’t directly see it.
Got me on edge.
Posted on January 16, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
Reservoir Dogs
“For no man can make a dent in emptiness.” – Nelson Algren, Chicago: City on the Make
What is a river?
A ditch full of rain
What is rain?
The tears of a god.
What is a god?
A metaphor.
Posted on January 10, 2017
By J.J. Tindall
When the Levee Breaks
The song says
“Crying won’t help you,
Praying won’t do you
No good.”
Now: I do believe
That crying and praying
Give comfort
To those who
Cry and pray.
Posted on December 12, 2016
