JOHN A. NIEVES, "SPEEDING" (ISSUE 14)

SPEEDING

The music in the car muted the rain

on the road save the wiper blades’

                        repetitive thuds. No headlights, no

                        taillights, no deer or traffic signals.

Alone, out here, is part of the landscape.

The wind buffets me across

                        the asphalt’s long shine. The stereo

                        swears the world is as soft as lace, but

I don’t love anyone. Outside, the world

the world is as soft as lace. The ghosts

                        of train tracks clack under my tires. The milemarkers

                        streak green skyward into night.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

John A. Nieves has poems forthcoming or recently published in journals such as: Cincinnati Review, Pleiades, Crazyhorse, The Literary Review, Verse Daily and Passages North. His first book, Curio, won the Elixir Press Annual Poetry Award Judge’s Prize and came out in early 2014. He’s an assistant professor of English at Salisbury University. John received his MA from USF and his PhD from the University of Missouri.

ABOUT THE SOUND OF SUGAR:

We’ve loved reading the work that we’ve published (clearly), so now we want an opportunity to better hear our contributors. We will feature an audio recording of a poem from one of our seven issues, read by the poet and updated every couple of weeks. This an open invitation to all contributors from any of our issues, we were delighted to print your work, now we’re eager to hear it. 

The Sound of Sugar....John A. Nieves

Backward Binoculars And Postage for Corpses

I’m all eyes and indigo

inking signatures in light and language,

riddles sewn into the bottom of busy tongues.

Strangers press their teeth together,

a clack in place of lips.

The underbelly of the morning

grinds against the back of the world—

long-distance casualties propped against broken shovels.

I lick the inside of their eyelids and seal them—

hope they get where they need to go.

About the Poet:

John A. Nieves has poems forthcoming or recently published in journals such as: Southern Review, Poetry Northwest, andminnesota review. He won the 2011 Indiana Review Poetry Contest and his first book, Curio (2014), won the Elixir Press Annual Poetry Award Judge’s Prize. He is an Assistant Professor of English at Salisbury University. He received his M.A. from University of South Florida and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.

About the Sound of Sugar:
We’ve loved reading the work that we’ve published (clearly), so now we want an opportunity to better hear our contributors. We will feature an audio recording of a poem from one of our seven issues, read by the poet and updated every couple of weeks. This an open invitation to all contributors from any of our issues, we were delighted to print your work, now we’re eager to hear it.