That Poet

By David Athey

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Daniel
loves to be alone
with just enough people

in a dark dive
deep
abode of light

with windows
facing most directions
of soul, the door

belled and chimed
so no one arrives
alone. That poet Daniel

reclines near the piano,
his notebook
wild with dreams

of grace
and fury
like a lion’s jaws,
​
the jaws of many lions,
all teeth and ink-blood
purring.

---

David Athey’s poems, stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in various literary journals and magazines, including Christianity & Literature, Iowa Review, Dappled Things, Berkeley Fiction Review, Windhover, Relief, Time of Singing, and Harvard Review. Athey lives in South Florida on a small lake with large iguanas. His books, including Art is for The Artist, are available at Amazon.