Stephen C. Middleton

Rogue Process (Or; Deep Blues / Knives Crisp)

 
Another broken column
& the shame of plague
Beyond redemption
Broken antennae
Paraesthesia & phantom limb
Simmering
The tingling that precludes sleep
(Medicated (variety) no substitute)
Not pain exactly
The brain sending old (redundant)
Messages        deep blues
Like re-enacting old battles
An ancient tingling
Deep in muscle memory
Random spasm
That the X-Ray cannot explain
Deep recesses / roots

Rogue process
Vertical column of acid
Scarred oesophagus
Charred gristle
Knives crisp through evening flesh

Stephen C. Middleton is a writer working in London, England. He has had five books published, including A Brave Light(Stride) and Worlds of Pain / Shades of Grace (Poetry Salzburg). He has been in several anthologies, including Paging Doctor Jazz (Shoestring), From Hepworth’s Garden Out (Shearsman, 2010), & Yesterday’s Music Today (Knives Forks and Spoons, 2015). For several years he was editor of Ostinato, a magazine of jazz and jazz related poetry, and The Tenormen Press. He has been in many magazines worldwide. He is currently working on projects (prose and poetry) relating to jazz, blues, politics, outsider (folk) art, mountain environments, and long-term illness.