Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets, but this week we’ve extended our reach. We’re featuring the James Morehead, the poet laureate of Dublin, California.
Morehead is the author of canvas: poems, his debut poetry collection and the host of The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast.
James' poem "tethered" was transformed into an award-winning, hand-drawn short film. His poem "gallery" was set to music for baritone and piano. His poems have appeared in Wingless Dreamer, Prometheus Dreaming and Prompt Press.
“These are poems to be savored, re-read, kept handy for those times when only poetry will do,” said W. J. T. Mitchell, senior editor of Critical Inquiry and Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor, English and Art History at the University of Chicago.
Today he relives a moment that most people can relate to in his poem “crush.”
teen week at foxwood inn
i'm fifteen scrawny bookwormed and shy
she arrives so tall her rich brown curls waving
a smile dazzling and confident
the crush envelopes me
its weight taking my breath away
as she turns the corner there is no time to say hi
and i fear being caught staring too long
each morning after breakfast
i peek over my paperback
waiting for her to pass by and if her eyes catch mine
i shrink and blush my heart crushed and racing
later by the dock
the jocks show off their running shirtless headlong dives
while i sit silently on a fading muskoka chair
tucking my book under a towel avoiding splashes
when the last night comes her name a mystery still
with stairway to heaven's sorrowful intro begun
i crush fear walking towards her
extending my hand offering a dance
she looks me in the eye
and quietly nods no
and takes the dance floor with one of the diving boys
i walk into darkness across dew-damp grass
down to the end of the dock
sitting legs swinging toes caressing the still cool lake
robert plant echoing in the distance
between chords i hear footsteps
she's there her hand on my shoulder
a tear sliding down my cheek
"i like you james but just as a friend"
sitting down beside me as the song ends
i feel the crush as my imagined first kiss
drifts away with the ripples beneath my feet
but in time smile eyes closed and dry
replaying her saying my name
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
