The Journal of a Journalist
National poetry month
Here's Russell Nichols, a freelance writer and poet who used to pound a city beat at the Boston Globe:
with a kiss, i interviewed your soul
your smile was an inverted pyramid
telling me the good news
before a single word was uttered
you didn't miss a beat
and i kept coming back for another scoop
scattered articles
of clothing gave away the story
you liked me because my methods
were old-fashioned
i was networking with your mind, body and spirit
making contacts with your eyes
but i was unethical
i quoted your dreams
without citing you as my source
of inspiration
i have plagiarized your body language
and paraphrased our destiny in my own words
i have read your lips
without reading the byline
and did not notice my name
on the tip of your tongue
i now broadcast shadows
in the light of a public relation-ship
and you anchored your hopes
in the depths of my fears
i have buried the lede
beneath the beckoning of your breaths
i have forgotten you
© Russell Nichols