Poetz.com: Poetry Changes People

THE LIE

I sat at my desk in the crylight hours, staring

at a lone grape, and I made up a lie. I didn’t believe

it was a lie; I didn’t think I’d

lost a grape the night before, rolling off

the midriff of a sweaty nightmare. It may have been

I failed to dream it right, no faith in the escaped--

instead I pitied the waiting bunch of

grapes in the refrigerator.

I no longer love you that way-- I don’t know

if it’s true. Will the truth stay hidden, take its

place next to the renegade on the carpet,

blend one more night into one more

sunblind morning?

FORTY DAYS

For forty days he waited patiently

in limbo, for his failures to be

gathered up, his friends to sip ouzo

and devour the fish, for his soul to ascend,

sins to be sorted, ranked in order

of duration and severity.

I don’t believe in the soul, at least

not that way. It makes no sense to me.

Even when we were kids together,

introduced early to the game of guilt,

we rarely played it out.

Lord, the awful, ordained insecurities

we feel that give way to this sinful

review of one missing, a little

more than a month, a little

less than fully risen.

Perry S. Nicholas is a practicing poet and an English instructor at Erie Community College North in Buffalo, N.Y. At ECC, he teaches remedial writing, literature, and creative writing. He is co-host of the Screening Room, a venue for local poets to present their original work.

His poem "Father's Toast" has been nominated for a 2007 Pushcart Prize by Skyline Magazines.