Two Poems By Paul Jones

Refusal to Respond in a Prompt Workshop

I imagine and remember
clumsy trysts in the small car.
But like the lines in this poem, 
it takes some time to twist them
into any kind of form
much less summon up the nerves
to dare to, what some call, share
with a room of strangers, face
to far-too-anxious faces.
Forgive me, earnest leader.
Forgive me, my dear poet friends.
I leave you as she left me then—
out before we even begin.

Did you ever wake up with a bullfrog on your mind?
—“Bullfrog Blues” William Harris

the dark thud of his song
kept me up all night long
before dawn we became
almost one and the same
star-showered water-slick
an amphibious mystic
squatting between two states 
water up to my waist
my wide eyes divided
staring at pond and sky
late night fog thick as smoke 
blew sound into my throat
moist spring air filled my lungs
all near me feared my tongue
I was hungry for bright
objects those hoarding light
I swallowed the full moon
zing and soon it was gone
I had to sing pain out
my cry was deep and loud
my tone a fine low bass
outshone the light it replaced

Paul Jones is no longer a person of interest. A manuscript of his poems crashed into the moon’s surface in 2019 carried by Israel’s Beresheet Lander. In 2021, Jones was inducted into the NC State Computer Science Hall of Fame. His book, Something Wonderful, was published by Redhawk Press in 2021. Recently, Jones has published poems in Grand Little Things, Hudson Review, Tar River Poetry, NC Literary Review, as well as in anthologies including Best American Erotic Poems (1800-Present).
http://smalljones.com