Photography © Glenn Bowie

 

Americus Live

There is no weapon of salvation or slavery
able to intrude upon a mind determined.
No fate of good fortune no future ambition
will intersect at the point of a tempered blade.
Seemingly unstoppable, the language explains
what breaks into pieces, through paper and skin.

Walk, and walk, into the conflicting mind
pressure and point to the solemnity of cause.
A heart stopped cold on the floor now rests
a foot in the air of unbearable cloud.
And a cover across the focusing eye
atop a slope, an inclination of distress.

This arm is a force, this battery assaulted
from which there is nothing escaping intact.
The view from this vantage, low and dim
a brief glimpse over what was once a landing.
Something now capitalized and incapacitated
what “never” becomes when materialized.

 

Joe Kidd is a professional singer, songwriter, poet, and musician. Joe has toured across North America and Western Europe with his partner Sheila Burke in support of their CD titled Everybody Has A Purpose. He was inducted into the Michigan Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017. In 2020, Joe published his first full book of verse titled The Invisible Waterhole, a collection of spiritual and sensual verse. Much of Joe’s world view was formed on the road hitch hiking alone in America during the 1970’s as well as studying theology and church history as a student at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. Joe is a respected speech writer, and is a music critic for a number of international magazines and websites.

Glenn Bowie is a published poet, lyricist and photographer from the Boston area. He also owns and operates an elevator company that supplies custom-built elevators for clients from New England to Hollywood. Author of two poetry and photograph collections (Under the Weight of Whispers and Into the Thorns and Honey) on Big Table Publishing, he donates all profits from his books to various charities for the homeless and local animal shelters.