In the wings,
trouble greets submission;
guns speak. Murder calls
random numbers.
Mine? Yours?
The guy who commands
Curiosity to find water
on Mars?
He's distracted or
he will be
when the Super Bowl draws
nigh or when Miley
wears little or nothing but
the gunman is not
distracted. Like an actor,
he loves his role so much
we can't keep him
in the wings.
For more than fifty years, Barry Koplen has been writing poetry and prose. Often published by friendly journals too arcane to mention, he received his MFA from Queens University in Charlotte, NC. Recently, he completed the second half of a two-volume collection of poems and essays. The first, Whale of Grief, complements Wail of Joy, the second; both are related to impressions of life as a Jew in a non-Jewish world. His No Gold Stars
tells his personal story of the integration of the Greenville, SC school system. His latest Why Don’t They Believe Me? Four of Us Saw the Saucer will be available in January. Currently, he is completing two collections of poems while teaching Creative Writing in Virginia at Danville Community College.
