Synchronized Chaos: "Nexus," "The Shore of Imagination," and "Looking Through the Big End of the Telescope"

I’m grateful to the editors of Synchronized Chaos for publishing my poems "Nexus," "The Shore of Imagination," and "Looking Through the Big End of the Telescope" in their February, 2019 edition. They write, “John Middlebrook probes how the mind comprehends our existence with pieces on various liminal, in between spaces, including dreamtime and evening. He lends the theme to this issue with his piece about seeing the world from the ‘big end of the telescope,’ where the past becomes clear, small and far away enough to organize in one’s mind.”

You can read the poems here.

Northern Cardinal Review: "Love's First Balcony Scene"

Many thanks to Northern Cardinal Review, a journal for northern North American literature, for publishing my poem “Love’s First Balcony Scene”.

Cleaver Magazine: "Whispers"

I’m excited to share that Cleaver Magazine has published my poem “Whispers” in its issue 8.

Tipton Poetry Journal: "Splash and Shatter" and "Young Woman"

Tipton Poetry Journal has included “Splash and Shatter” and “Young Woman” in its v.26 (pages 52-53)

Synchronized Chaos Journal: "Struggling with Words," "Walking the Figure Eight," and "A Prophesy of Black Holes"

I’m glad to share that Synchronized Chaos published my poems “Struggling with Words,” “Walking the Figure Eight,” and “A Prophesy of Black Holes” in its June 2014 issue.

“Struggling with Words” is particularly close to my heart and I’m excited that it found a home in Synchronized Chaos, an interdisciplinary webzine for art, literary, science, cultural, and travel writing. Its editors write, “John Middlebrook looks at the experience, aural, aesthetic and visceral, of words and paintings, and then imagines a comforting, embryonic realm of silence inside a black hole.”

Wilderness House Literary Review: "Terrarium," "Splash and Shatter," "Cascade the Generations," and "The Setting of Stones"

I’m pleased to say that the Wilderness House Literary Review included four of my poems in its January 2014 issue (volume 8, no. 4): “Terrarium,” “Splash and Shatter,” “Cascade the Generations,” and “The Settings of Stones.”

Third Wednesday Magazine and Grasslimb Journal: "Still Life"

Originally published in  Third Wednesday (Spring 2013, print-only) and Grasslimb (v.11, n.2, print-only)

Still Life

Surrounded by indigo fields,
I turn off the yard light and sit
on this summer night listening
to the sounds between the sounds
of crickets wafting their chants
on the lazy breeze, unmoved
by the discontent of hounds
in the distance baying
at the plaintive whistles of trains,
the rustle of gravel under passing cars.

The clock nods and blinks
on evenings like this, then retires.
The industry of spring has passed:
and the branches of fruit trees—
that snagged rags of clouds
and made them blossom—
now sag with orbs of quiet fire.

Meanwhile, the paint cans of autumn rest
undisturbed in storage, and the wind
that will turn—sure as a hawk,
when winter bears down—
sleeps in the forest.

Tuck Magazine: "Evolution Part 1" and "Finding our Place"

My poems “Evolution: Part 1” and “Finding our Place” were published in Tuck Magazine as part of their February 2013 issue.

Curio Poetry Journal: "Benches"

I’m so pleased to share that Curio Poetry included my poem “Benches” in their February, 2013 issue.