Jonathan Jones

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new occupation

Time’s bleach in an old Coke bottle
smelling of aspirin, blasted out
a feral moon to mine my memory.
Loss rides perfect time. Air ripples
with piano. Tide shatters like glass.
I nudged the starving child beside me.
And told them I could grant three
wishes if I found my master’s voice
agreeable. Only the child could
no longer speak with what it had seen.
My purpose seemed a less than pleasant
dream to them. What work in times
like these for such as I, dull creature
blinking in a cold white hand,
its smoky intervention. All forty thieves 
had been and gone. And I could
not return myself from where I came,
and so it was I found myself
this occupation.

Jonathan Jones lives and works in Rome where he teaches English and American literature at John Cabot University.