John is a social worker working in the field of disability management and holds degrees in social work, rehabilitation services, and psychology. He is the author of seven books of poetry: “March” (2019), “The Seasons of Us” (2019), New Days (2020), Fragments (2021), A Long Walk (2023), A Curious Art (2023) and Sojourns (2024). His work has appeared widely in numerous literary journals, magazines, and anthologies internationally. John is also a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee and lives in Caledon Ontario, Canada with his wife and two children.
Caution in Love
Caution in love
A silent thief
Sneaking in
With soft steps
Stealing
What could have been
Beyond hands
Kept far too close
Hearts guarded
And lurking
In careful words
Withheld glances
Threading through
Pauses
And swallowing moments
Whole
Trapped by caution
Missing
The wild edges
Of the unknown
In this shielded half-light
As if love
Might shatter
Under the weight
Of daring
A New Day
The beat
Of the old café
By the Odeon
Clips off the stone
In an echo
Round the bend
Lost
On its way
To the boulevard
Poets and painters
Once young
Writers and guttersnipes
Now shadows
In the early mist
Fading into whispers
Of what was
As I order another pastry
The clang
And clatter
Of morning
Turning slowly
With another day
Slipping into place
In the neighborhood
Bruised
Bruised by shadows
And endless noise
Where the weight of days
Presses down
Like a storm
Where beauty finds a way
In the flicker of dawn
In a world
Too easily unraveled
Where sorrow clings
To the edges of things
Beauty and compassion
Like whispered promises
On the wind
Delicate but defiant
Searching fiercely
Like hands fumbling
In dark corners
Finding small treasures
To hold close
Quiet markers
Of tender moments
Binding tightly to hearts
With armor
Against the cold
Enduring by choice
By instinct
Crafting hope
And holding fast
To grace
impspired 