Spring 2014, Volume 16

Poetry by Jerry Garcia

Suburban Recessional

Circumspect men dressed like funerals
emerge from evergreen hedges
to dress Jacaranda trees in black tie.
Cats herd onto sidewalks singing In Paridisum,
children float Popsicle-stick rafts
in gutter-water streams.
Palm fronds bow like acolytes
to wrinkled elders pushing shopping carts.
Barbecues create multiple plumes of suburban incense
as crows chorus benediction.

Clouds are cirrus and loose,
jet condensation tracks blue spaces
their shadows make a sign of the cross
on upswept sidewalks.
Nuns praying in blue wardrobe collect
on every street corner.
The mailman passes with the redemption
of John the Baptist along the way
to losing his head.

 

 

 

BIO: Jerry Garcia is a poet, photographer and filmmaker from Los Angeles, California. He earns his living as a producer of television commercials and motion picture previews. Jerry has been a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets and served as a member of Beyond Baroque’s Board of Trustees. His poetry and photography have been seen in Chaparral, The Chiron Review, Askew, Palabra Magazine, The November 3rd Club and KCET’s Departures: Poetry L.A. Style.