John Sweet poetry

John Sweet is a believer in writing as catharsis and is an optimistic pessimist who is opposed to all organized religion and political parties. He also avoids zealots and social media whenever possible. His latest collections include A Nation of Assholes W/Guns (2015, Scars Publications) and Approximate Wilderness (2016, Flutter Press). All pertinent facts about his life are buried somewhere in his writing.

how the world always ends

bones on a snow-covered roof and you
dream of reasons
but never the right ones

you wake up to
the screams of crows

stranger knows your name and
that your father is dead

a rumor of suicide

a child’s body
pulled from the river

january now for most of your life and
all you want is to apologize

turns out hatred was
always the most important thing

what matters more than anything
about power is that
you will never have any

any vote you cast ends up being
a vote for war

there is never an end to the list of
people your government
tells you must die

all hope edged w/ frost

and not warm yet and still the
scars and still the ghosts

shadows of empty buildings laid out
across the snow and frozen mud and the
song of light is only in your mind

the women weep at the river’s edge

the baby is passed from one to the next

not war and never peace and
these is nothing worth dying for in this world
but it’s always been so easy finding
reasons to kill

eagle flies up to the sun

man pulls the trigger and
brings it back down

boy sleeps in his bed of flames
while his mother drives away

nothing to do but map out all of
this hatred and pain and
hope that your own children can
find their way home