I didn't expect my father                                                                                —Richard Jones


to walk through the wall
at midnight when I was
sitting in the wing chair
which my mother insisted
I take after he died because
she thought a wing chair
in my study with a tall lamp
would be perfect for one
who sits up late reading
and thinking about the dead
which is what I was doing
when my father arrived and
I rose—as he’d taught me—
and offered him his chair.


photo: Sarah Jones

photo: Sarah Jones

Richard Jones is the author of seven books from Copper Canyon Press, including The Correct Spelling & Exact Meaning. Editor of Poetry East and its many anthologies, including Paris, Origins, and Bliss, he also edits the free worldwide poetry app, "The Poet's Almanac." A new book, Stranger on Earth, is forthcoming from Copper Canyon in 2018.

ISSN 2472-338X
© 2017