The Words and Art of Aaron B. Jackson
Originally published in The Written Voice, April 2006
Imagine things as they once were. Wander amongst the lilies. Run with the bulls on Wall Street in the middle of summer. Build a mountain that people can ski on without ice. Compose an opera in Italian and then memorize it backwards in Greek.
mid·dle
adjective
Date: before 12th century
1 : equally distant from the extremes
a : constituting a division intermediate between those prior and later or upper and lower b : constituting a period of a language or literature intermediate between one called Old and one called New or Modern
4 : of a verb form or voice : typically asserting that a person or thing both performs and is affected by the action represented
po·et
noun
Date: 14th century
1 : one who writes poetry : a maker of verses
2 : one of great imaginative and expressive capabilities and special sensitivity to the medium
-merriam-webster.com
Both of these poems were written on July 18th, 1985 when I was eight years old. As you can see the Cold War had a bit of an effect on my childhood.