Luke Johnson

CATALINA

Alone on a boat 
a mile off the coast, I 
watched a glass squid 
rise fluorescent, fold 
like flamed origami. 
I thought of my mother, 
dress blue, blurred 
among the dogwoods, thought 
of her hair, billowing 
a laminate smoke, always 
an inch out of touch. 

Luke Johnson lives on the California Coast with his wife and three kids. His poems can be found in Kenyon Review, Narrative Magazine, Florida Review, Thrush, Cortland Review and elsewhere. He was a Finalist for both the Pablo Neruda Prize and Brett Elizabeth Jenkins Award, and his chapbook :boys released with Blue Horse in 2019.