I'd slept most of the day away
And suddenly found myself atop
My roof, inspecting a metal screen
Held onto the chimney top by three bricks.
The business wasn't interesting.
But a rapidly changing tree
In a neighbor's yard was
Turning red, setting off the yellow
Of our backyard trees.
And I suddenly felt like it
Was worth it to have lived this long.
Standing atop my house like a king.
Copyright 2007, by Jon Gregory. Written in November 1998.
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Sorry, not every poet can be Billy Collins or Maya Angelou
Wrote way too much swill while drunk, but could dazzle on occasion. Got even better near the end of his life.
Charles Baudelaire
Didn't live long enough to fulfill his potential as a poet. But he hit the mark several times, mostly in The Doors' lyrics.
An Online Literary Journal and Poetry Chapbook by Jon Gregory
Exit Only: An Online Literary Journal and Poetry Chapbook by Jon Gregory
Sartre had it wrong. There is always one exit.
All posts and other content Copyright 2007-16, by Jon Gregory. All rights reserved. This means do not copy without permission from the author.
P.S.: This site will be under construction for a while. I invite visitors to revisit, as this online chapbook is in progress.
All posts and other content Copyright 2007-16, by Jon Gregory. All rights reserved. This means do not copy without permission from the author.
P.S.: This site will be under construction for a while. I invite visitors to revisit, as this online chapbook is in progress.
They Say That Life Imitates Art ...
But the imitation is so poor,
I could never see the resemblance. -- JG
I could never see the resemblance. -- JG
The Dark Genius
Sorry, not every poet can be Billy Collins or Maya Angelou
About Me
- Jon Gregory
- Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
- Jon Gregory is a journalist and poet/writer living in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was born July 27, 1956, in Mathis, Texas, at 3:35 A.M. (They actually screwed up the time on his birth certificate. This is what his mother and the doctor recorded, and he thinks they were there.) His poems, short stories and essays have been published in The American Dissident, The Dallas Review, Contexas, The DFW Poetry Review, the Austin International Poetry Festival's annual anthology, in Map of Austin Poetry e-zine, and elsewhere. He has a B.A. from Texas Lutheran University, where he won two short-story prizes from the English department and was associate editor of the literary magazine; and an M.A. from Corpus Christi State University (now Texas A&M-CC). He is now a grateful refugee from academia. He doesn't usually write in synch with the times and trends; he also hates rejection, and he's impatient and lazy. So, he's actually done well to get this much published. He hopes that online self-publishing will be a lot better than doing the paper chapbooks that other poets sometimes reluctantly buy and often never read.
Bukowski: Maybe the Best Street Poet of Recent Times
Wrote way too much swill while drunk, but could dazzle on occasion. Got even better near the end of his life.
Still Another Brilliant Madman
Charles Baudelaire
Poetic Influences
- Baudelaire, Poe, Yeats, and many individual poems, because many fine poets only hit the bull's eye of immortality a few times. But a few can be enough. "American Primitive" by William Jay Smith is a good example of one poem strong enough that the poet is mainly remembered for that one.
Literary Taste (Or Lack Thereof)
- Favorite recently read novel: Young Lonigan (1932), first in the Studs Lonigan trilogy by James T. Farrell. It's not pretty, but it's a fascinating view of Chicago through the eyes of an ordinary would-be tough guy, circa 1916. Most compelling, if you don't mind a little grit and realism.
The Lizard King, First Police Mug
Didn't live long enough to fulfill his potential as a poet. But he hit the mark several times, mostly in The Doors' lyrics.
Most Underrated And/Or Favorite Modern Novels in English
- The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (James T. Farrell, 1934) Second in the trilogy. I'm on the third one now.
- A Walk on the Wild Side (Nelson Algren, 1956)
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (James M. Cain, 1934)
- Union Square (Albert Halper, 1933)
- Johnny Got His Gun (Dalton Trumbo, 1938)
- Miss Lonelyhearts (Nathaniel West, 1933)
- Day of the Locust (Nathaniel West, 1939)
- Young Lonigan (James T. Farrell, 1932)
- The Last Picture Show (Larry McMurtry, 1966)
- Ape and Essence (Aldous Huxley, 1948)
- Rich Man, Poor Man (Irwin Shaw, 1970. Yes, the novel is better than the miniseries was.)
- It Can't Happen Here (Sinclair Lewis, 1935)
- Welcome to Hard Times (E.L. Doctorow, 1960)
- The Loved One (Evelyn Waugh, 1948)
- God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Kurt Vonnegut Jr., 1965)
- The Killer Inside Me (Jim Thompson, 1952)
- The Natural (Bernard Malamud, 1952)
- The Circus of Dr. Lao (Charles G. Finney, 1935)
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (Horace McCoy, 1948)
- They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Horace McCoy, 1935)
- Appointment in Samarra (John O'Hara, 1934)
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