WJ Nunnery was born in Madison WI and has lived there his entire life. His work has appeared in The North Central Review and Postcard Shorts. He is a creative writing student at Concordia University St. Paul.
Open Mic Night at The Union
By WJ Nunnery
A collage of cacophony,
bustling voices that swing lower
than the sweetest chariot back and
forth, colliding into a dissonant wash
and, standing on a rickety wooden stage,
the twangy sound of an out-of-tune
soul, echoes passion, pulling whatever notes
are left to be pulled from a cracked acoustic guitar,
punk rock stickers peeling from its hollow body;
sun setting melodies that stretch all the way
to the room’s back wall and an old bald man
wearing Ron Dayne’s red and white thirty-three
stands up and he shouts: more beer,
I need more beer, as though
that was all that mattered,
a smile grabbing his face like the moon
in a black and childlike sky, unwilling
to let go until tomorrow.
I am there! Brilliant poem.
WJ,a good poet is a wordsmith, a great poet presents us images in new, evocative word combinations “. . .a smile grabbing his face like the moon in a black and childlike sky,. . .” is great!
The last five lines say it all.
I feel for the poet/prose writer. I’m glad that Hampton Roads Writers has our Open Mic at Libraries. Great poem, I felt the anxiety.