Brian Harman

Document of a Lonely Sound

-after The Trinity Sessions, Cowboy Junkies

Days dreaming for gold,

pan sifting pyrite under old Western shadows,

all seems solemn,

no light remaining

but what is hidden in my heart,

love running downstream,

blue moons revisited,

I really don’t want to be a lone miner anymore,

but if winter kills me

before the heartbreak is over,

I will be that misguided, fallen angel,

in that helpless hole of hope,

sack tied to a stick over the shoulder,

weight of survival in the air of death,

bury 200 miles within,

choose the harmonica over the church,

lonely sounds I know,

no one but myself can save me from destitution,

no swig for pain, no moonlit flesh

to replace sadness,

hurt being the balance to joy,

I understand and walk midnight

to hold on to the few flecks

of reality I’ve kept and found,

to strike gold or drop everything

and stake claim on my voice

like land and horses,

I will leave this world my document,

my genuine affection

in the river of blood and future ashes,

dreaming my dreams with tears

for sweet Jane to never be lonesome.

Bio: Brian Harman received his MFA in Creative Writing from Cal State University, Long Beach. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Redshift, Vamp Cat, Misfit Magazine, and elsewhere. He loves craft beer, creating music playlists, writing poetry past midnight, and is proud to represent his hometown of Yorba Linda, CA.