Self-Portrait
Tim J Brennan
The world is round
is what they told him
but he lives near Iowa,
doesn’t see it.
It’s not like he’d walk
around the planet
anyway, a dot
on a creased map
wrinkled, each section
threatens to fracture,
been folded so many times
creases have creases.
It’s a languid stroll
winter, spring, summer,
fall over one bridge
and back again,
all streets seem to rush
themselves off to work,
amble home to a tavern
and tangle back.
A burn in the calf,
a stab in the back,
the lack of breath
in a journey, all
downhill now.
Tim J Brennan's poems can be found in The Original VanGogh's Ear anthology, Talking Stick, The Lake (U.K.), Green Blade, and other nice places. Brennan's s one act plays have been produced widely, including Chicago, White Bear Lake MN, Colorado Springs, and Milwaukee WI.