Patrick Theron Erickson’s most recent poem to appear here was “Corpses” (June 2018). 

The Day the Earth Stood Still
By Patrick Theron Erickson

“O sun
stand still
over Gibeon

“O moon
over the Valley
of Aijalon”

So the sun stood still
and the moon stopped

Yet earth and moon
revolve around the sun
and not vice versa

So earth and moon
stood sill

while the sun was kept
from going down

And the incident
did not escape being noticed

Like a hiccup
a belch
a burp
or a fart

such things
simply aren’t done
in polite society

yet done they are
and that with a hiccup

a belch
a burp
or a fart.