Boots on the Ground
cradles to city streets
rural roads
soils of destiny
skies of fate
boots on the ground
each one
every body
becoming
being
boots on the ground
like anchors finding an ocean’s floor
rockets sending explosive signals
our imaginations ran wild
beyond the deepest black holes
seeking holy ghosts with open arms
for somebody
and everyone
some time
sooner or later
we all became
boots on the ground
Complexities
for Sgt. ‘Chick’ Sanders
Which was more inflamed,
body, mind or spirit?
The game named
Capture-to-Enrapture?
Sometimes near a song’s end
notes go flat or sharp.
Shared visions blur.
Tears dehydrate.
Solar flares explode
bright light for afterthought.
Memory flushes happenstance
drained from any storm.
Hope speaks
inflections of intentions.
As I remember you
perhaps you’ll remember me.
My Mother as Prophet
after some rites of passage
the flight path began
a kind of runaway runway
flying to other peoples
other cultures even my own
finding hot cold wars
first responder streets
candles turned to neon
hymns to folk rock
dial phones to high tech
many codes to be deciphered
gaining wisdom experience
voices lecturing
factoids hard bound learned
death and destructions
turning constantly
births and constructions
kisses here and there
kisses here and there
she said my son
you fly on silver wings
Richard ‘Eric’ Johnson is a graduate of Indiana University and holds a BA in Germanic Languages and an MS in Education. Eric published five volumes of poetry: Of Museums, Monsoons and Mausoleums (1998), Schemes of Consciousness (2003), Memoir Poetic of a Naked Cop (2013), Watching Angels Dance By Candlelight (2019),and Free Air Berlin: Of a Wall and Walnut Tree (2022). Most recently Eric has been honored to have his literary works archived at La Salle University Connelly Library Special Collections: Vietnam War Veterans Poets Foundation. Eric served in Viet Nam and West Berlin with the U.S. Army before beginning a career in law enforcement as a road patrol officer with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department in Indianapolis. After retiring, Eric traveled overseas with his wife who was likewise stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. They now happily reside in Arlington, Virginia.
ISSUED 