Barry J. L. Horton

ALARM CLOCK

In my dreams
I proudly walk up to that girl
Look her straight in the eyes
And know all the right words to say
She melts, blown away

I take her
For a long walk to a special place
That makes Xanadu
Seem like an afternoon in hell
Then I hear a bell….
R-R-R-I-I-I-N-N-N-G-G !!
The alarm clock…
THAT GODDAMN ALARM CLOCK!!!

Awake the next day
I roll past her on my wheels
I can't avoid those beautiful green eyes
But I never know what to say
I can only watch as she walks away.

* * *

GWENDOLYN BROOKS (October 1991)

We'd read her poems in a textbook
   Her word touched me
I bought a collection of her works
   Her words gripped me
Finally, I heard her read
   Her own words aloud
With the same spirit and soul
Her written words implied
Minutes before she concluded that day,
   She read that poem,
That simultaneously froze and melted me
It was the verse she'd saved for last
As though she'd seen me in the crowd
   Sitting on the edge of my wheels
It was a poem that gave credence to my kind.
Her words were much more than words
   I believed
Her words were for me
I waited 'til the cloud of poetry lovers dissipated,
Then nervously rolled up to meet
This dynamic diminutive woman,
   Perchance to speak with her
I swear I saw her aged visage
   Beam
A warmth that emanated from her knowing soul
As her eyes smiled at me,
   "I noticed your face as you were sitting there listening."
Her comforting smile made me feel
   As though I were visiting with a favorite aunt
I was both relieved and delighted to see
   Her aged ebony visage beam
With a warmth I knew emanated
From her knowing soul
We spoke alone for nearly half a hour
In relaxed comfort like old friends share
She finally took my hands and smiled,
   "Barry, I'd like you to have this,"
As she signed the very chap book for me
From which she'd just read then gently handed it to me
Turns out I'd been right
   Her words were for me
They were for all of us.

Barry J. L. Horton is a 57-year-old graduate of Rutgers University. The onset of multiple sclerosis profoundly changed his life in 1988, but he returned to school, graduating from Rutgers in 1994, where he wond the prestigious English Department Prize and the James M. Gaffney Award. Widowed in 2008, he know lilves in Philadelphia, PA. His first novel Gemini Rising was published in 2010.