Gary Jones

CONTACT:
doorcountybahr@yahoo.com

BIO:

Gary Jones is a poet and freelance writer who lives on the Door Peninsula with his wife of many years. Several of his poems have been published in literary journals, most recently in Pearl, Rosebud, Verse Wisconsin, Nebo, A Summer’s Reading, Museletter, Knock, and the Pulse. His poetry, along with his short fiction and academic essays, has been recognized in contests.

Jones has conducted workshops on writing poetry both for adults and high school students. For workshop information contact him.

Poetry

A British Lit Teacher Tells All

Yes, I have been inappropriately touched by literature;
I have been fondled by Shakespeare’s sonnets,
And once, in the back seat of a car,
By one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s;
(Her nude iambic feet look quite lovely in the dark!)

Yes, I have been inappropriately touched by literature;
I have been groped by the work of the carpe diem poets,
Abandoning myself to their shallow promises,
Plucked rose buds by Suckling, Herrick, and Lovelace,
Poetry that often seizes more than the day.

Yes, I have been inappropriately touched by literature;
I have been caressed by the silky words of the Romantic poets,
The naked crooning of Lord Byron, Shelley, and Keats,
Alfresco romps through sensual diction and syntax,
Verse adverse to more than one-night stands.

Yes, I have been inappropriately touched by literature;
And I have been gangbanged by the poetry
That my students have written for me,
But I was a willing victim, I confess,
Seduced by their innocence and youth and hope.

First published in Pearl

Of Poetry

At the carnival
The poet with
Whimsical eyes and crooked teeth
Squints into the sun with
Windblown hair
And he speaks of
Poetry
And inspiration
And technique
And purpose
While his indifferent muse
Pumps iron in the background.

First published in Rosebud