New Poetry by Matthew Johnson: “My Front Yard in Summer”

The Moon felt like a tingly blur on my skin, 
And as it gradually slid down my shoulder through my forearm,
I tried to smack at it like it was a marsh mosquito, 
Or an arcade game of whack-a-mole.

We soft tossed Wiffle balls when the sun went down,
And the whistle of the breeze passing through the hollow, plastic toy
Would take us to the place where it was going in the strike zone.

Our preadolescent arms would ache and sore 
Not from experimenting with changeups and curves
When hurling duct-taped baseballs in the day, and Wiffle balls at night,
But from swatting the moths and fireflies
Who sought the screen-door porch light,
Which was quite hard on the eyes. 

The congested, suburb stars overheard were blinding, 
And my other senses were heightened; 

I could hear the croaking engine of a passing car
Shift gears for the children of the street, playing;
The squeal of the vehicle braking for the child
Chasing a runaway basketball, was deafening.

I could smell burning rubber.

I could hear evergreen lawns licking their tongues,
Salivating for the dawn dew of morning. 

Some nights during those summer evenings,
I could only catch the chime of toddlers
Running with sticks against chain-link fences,
And I could hear crying … 

Matthew Johnson is the author of Shadow Folks and Soul Songs (Kelsay Books) and Far from New York State (NYQ Press). A writer from the Northeast who now lives in North Carolina, his work has appeared in Apple Valley Review, London Magazine, Roanoke Review, San Pedro River Review, and elsewhere. A recipient of Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominations, he’s Managing Editor of Portrait of New England and Poetry Editor of The Twin Bill. More: matthewjohnsonpoetry.com.

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