James McLain James McLain Poems

I loved the world too fiercely to grow old,
Each sunset struck me like a silver knife—
The hush of dusk, the stars so pale and cold,
Too beautiful, too distant from my life.
...

mirror and my face—
I toast to the perfect god
smiling back at me
...

The stars are flint in a barren sky,
And every wind that passes by
Is only a whisper of goodbyes.
...

Old man hands, rope-bitten, tough as reef—
Cast out hope with each line's heave.
Dawn broke red over Gulf Stream bone,
The sea, she whispered, leave it alone.
...

they said he drained them —
not with charm
but with a syringe.
...