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“Crest” and “Funeral Poem Painted on Silk”

by John Tustin

“CREST”

My body riding on the

Crest

Of your body

The waves of us

Undulating

Under the moon

That guides our

Force

Toward the blankets of shore

Where we turn

Stones

Into sand

Mermaids clap sultry

Tailfins

And my body rides the

Crest of your

Body

To where awaits

The eyes of

All

To judge us

And the rocks now

Sand

Blessed and raw

Hot with the knowledge

We

Are now us and shall remain

Your body riding the

Crest

Of my naked body

The judgment

Dispensable

At long last

“FUNERAL POEM PAINTED ON SILK BANNER”

The river between us,

How it swells as winter approaches

And neither of us dare swim across

So we walk on either side

In the same direction,

Along the water’s edge in the cold.

By the time winter arrives

Perhaps you and I will at last meet

At the mouth of the river,

Diving as one into the final ocean

Where spring waits for us beyond the vastness,

On the other side.


John Tustin’s poetry has appeared in many disparate literary journals since 2009. fritzware.com/johntustinpoetry contains links to his published poetry online.

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