Vegas
Dry throat, burnt eyes,
he found his way outside
to the shock of open air
the red dusk sky.
Drifting from the hotel’s
hulked mass, he pooled against
the pier of a vast billboard.
A breeze blew
across his cracked
lips and pushed the
city’s neon waves
onto the horizon.
There they broke against
shoals of cloud and
spread themselves out
thin, thin
until they vanished
over the quiet sea
of sand and mountains.
he found his way outside
to the shock of open air
the red dusk sky.
Drifting from the hotel’s
hulked mass, he pooled against
the pier of a vast billboard.
A breeze blew
across his cracked
lips and pushed the
city’s neon waves
onto the horizon.
There they broke against
shoals of cloud and
spread themselves out
thin, thin
until they vanished
over the quiet sea
of sand and mountains.
hospital garden
silence
stretches out
stretches out
from an empty bed
through a blank window
through a blank window
and arched itself over
the small, green, hospital garden.
the small, green, hospital garden.
Bionote
Jonathan Cooper's poems and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in various publications, including The New Plains Review , The Statesman Journal , The Commonline Journal , and Poetry Pacific . He lives with his family in Vancouver, Canada, where he works in the property business.