Dan Provost’s poetry has been published both online and in print since 1993.  He is the author of 17 books/chapbooks. Finding Pessoa was released in October, 2023 by Alien Buddha Press. Dan also has a collection of poems, All in a Pretty Little Row, published by Roadside Press which debuted in November 2023. His work has been nominated for The Best of the Net three times and has read his poetry throughout the United States.  He lives in Keene, New Hampshire with his wife Laura, and dog Bella.

Worldly Death of Sibling

Stillborn,
            child presence.
            Pestilence victim?

Out of reach,
                  painfully
                  forfeited to
a stifled end?

No tears beleaguered…
The point of fairness
or melancholy,

never an opportunity to 
consummate or beguile

my lifeless
little brother.


End~

Death of a Hack

A calamity
between words and
being.

Failure at the former.
Clinging to the latter.

No more of amusing me
                   bemusing me

confronting me
killing me.

Observational experience
is just a form of non-sincerity.

What else can be told?
Formation of sentences 
are pointless any more to
any audience I ever had.

Three or four friends, who feel obligated
to jot “kind blurbs,” because he’s
such a nice guy.

I realize the search is
over…

No need to find out
why I’ll never look at 
the sky the same way 

again.

A Book I’m Reading

Thanks to Joseph Farley



Sneaky reflective
with sly technique 
describing the human condition.

Joseph continues to jot, 

disappointment of heroes & villains.

Inhabiting a tiny corner of personal
victory & defeats.

One-word sentences,
simple metaphors of
man gone insane, or woman
striking eternal gold within
a bowl of tiny
reflection.

Intertwined within, recognizing that
“a-ha” moment when the reader identifies
the classic void of inward
                  pain & pleasure.

Yes, we all want to consider ourselves
great observers—writers, who try to keep our
“almighty plan” vague and hidden, plotting
for few to actually
                            see.

Joe Farley?  He lets go a bit of optimism, crunched
within failure to steep into his words…

Until we realize that Hard Times for the Circus Clown is
a reflection –of what we can or cannot
be.