'The Sun' and Other Poetry by Alexander King Ream

The Sun

The face above that shone below
From space to hover, cast a glow
And warmth afforded to the one
Who in its path was found; the sun

On Mass Shootings

I cut loose the clod from the moorings of root
I thought about God, and the fellows who shoot
We’ve given them nothing for morals, or law
Except for consensus (exceptional flaw)

John’s Thoughts on Jesus, Night Before His Death

I didn’t have the words, I guess I should have said,
So quiet I deferred, his chest beneath my head.

Alexander King Ream (who formerly wrote under the penname Neal Dachstadter) is a poet living in Tennessee. His work has been printed in Decanto Poetry Magazine (UK), Western Viewpoints and Poetic Images: the Great American West (Woodinville, Washington), Society of Classical Poets Journal 2015 (Mt Hope, New York), Rocky Point Times (Puerto Peñasco, Mexico) and The Lyric (Jericho, Vermont). A member of the Demosthenian Literary Society at the University of Georgia, he deployed to Hawija, then wrote on Lookout Mountain, continuing with Delta Kappa Epsilon International. Berkeley, Ann Arbor, and Athens encouraged him as a writer. In 2015 he wrote in Arizona at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument five miles north of Mexico.

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Bruce Edward Wren March 30, 2018

I really like that last couplet, “John’s Thoughts…”. I would remove the first comma, as the intended caesura is quite enough, but this is a little beauty. Delicate, touching, deep. Congrats.

Al March 31, 2018

Thanks, appreciate the kind remarks and critique as well.

James A. Tweedie April 1, 2018

I enjoyed the simplicity of the verse–terse yet descriptive. sweet and savory to the taste, substantive enough to chew on, yet easy to swallow, and nourishing to digest! Merci, Chef Al! As a bonus, the accompanying photo is an inspired choice by our dear editor.

The Society April 1, 2018

The credit for the photo will have to go back to Al. The poems he submits are often ekphrastic and come with their own images. That was the case for “The Sun.” Thank you Al and James, and happy Easter!

-Evan