Daniel Edward Moore
Only In Ohio
can I not be hard on Jesus, the river’s muddy glory
makes me soft and slows me down.
I’m a northwest man inhaling Appalachia,
like a firefly in heat at the Mason Jar Museum.
There’s a Christ in every holler making sure the poor are blessed,
a cross on every corner where grace was not amazing.
Like Mapplethorpe in Cincinnati, I have seven days to get it,
seven days to hear these hills call my name up yonder.
After that I’m on a plane.
Daniel lives in Washington on Whidbey Island with the poet, Laura Coe Moore. His poems are forthcoming in Weber Review, Duende Literary Journal, Bluestem Magazine, Slipstream, Levee Magazine, Blue Nib Magazine and Impossible Archetype. His chapbook "Boys," is forthcoming from Duck Lake Books in December 2019. His first book, Waxing the Dents, was a finalist for the Brick Road Poetry Book Prize and will be released in February 2020. His work has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net.