Two Poems By Paul Jones

Saint of the Trees
 
What is the proper sacrifice
To please our Lord, the Saint of Trees?
I asked the ferns for their advice:
What is the proper sacrifice?
  
“Lie here and dream of paradise, 
Sink into the soil like the leaves.
That is the proper sacrifice
To please our Lord, the Saint of Trees.” 

Erasure
  
An old man walking in deep snow
Has just begun to disappear.
Is he someone I used to know?
An old man walking in deep snow,
I wonder how far he will go.
I hear he built a home near here.
An old man walking in deep snow
Has just begun to disappear. 

Paul Jones’ poetry has been published in Poetry, Red Fez, Journal of American Poetry, and in anthologies including Best American Erotic Poems (1800 – Present). Recently, he was nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and two Best of the Web Awards. His chapbook is What the Welsh and Chinese Have in Common. A manuscript of his poems crashed on the moon’s surface in 2019.