John W. Sexton



The Sky Goes Pale

two diceships land
showing 6 and 6 ... we scan the clouds
for a chance

               the emperor's skin
               thin as rice-paper ...
               through him the heavens

going somewhere with nothing?
what's the dark matter,
mr nobody?

               ourselves the prairies …
               herds of follicle horses
               graze my eyebrows

at the centre of the tree
an artery ... the sky
goes pale and dies

               transubstantial seas
               see them see them
               don't




John W. Sexton lives in the Republic of Ireland and is the author of five poetry collections, the most recent being The Offspring of the Moon (Salmon Poetry, 2013). Under the ironic pseudonym of Sex W. Johnston he has recorded an album with legendary Stranglers frontman, Hugh Cornwell, entitled Sons Of Shiva, which has been released on Track Records. He is a past nominee for The Hennessy Literary Award and his poem "The Green Owl" won the Listowel Poetry Prize 2007. In 2007 he was awarded a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry.
 
 
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