Hallways

by John Riley
The Waters
Second Place, June 2017
Judged by R.T. Castleberry


Yes dream in early morning
you are full of stones and softer
than the scent of a spring
the robins can never visit

roll awake in a dark room
to watch the world grow large
until it reveals itself small
hear the roof doves coo

that nothing is immortal
in the sky or in the sea
feel the morning tumble
to the bottom of the stairs

where the hearth is cold
wait before you follow
for the crawling light to pool
a slip for midnight’s mooring


A poem of contradictions (you are full of stones and softer/than the scent of spring...; to watch the world grow large/until it reveals itself small) opens its eyes to the hesitations of day's beginning. --R.T. Castleberry