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The Thief in a Hungry Man

At the April 1 Poetry Hoot, the Open Mike poets welcomed National Poetry Month with an outburst of creativity, energizing the overflow audience and intensifying the momentum built by the featured readers. Two young poets, Heidi Therrien and Ari, were especially strong, electrifying the Café Espresso listeners with their high velocity performances and their skill at their poetic craft.

Among the poems submitted for this column, Julie Wheeler’s caught my attention immediately with its opening lines. She took a familiar metaphor (He devoured her with his eyes) and added an original twist that brought the image to life with gritty reality. The entire poem extends and sustains this image of destruction to develop the character of what Julie describes as “a wanna be lover; he is just chipping chipping shady as a fox to get some piece of you, anything......”

The Thief in a Hungry Man

His eyes eat you up
like a carpenter ant.
He’d have you crumble
from the inside out.
He tries to unravel you with words,
unloosening your tethers
till unfurled,
the page of you goes flapping in the wind.
He’s furtive,
trying to steal your sweetness, your secrets
like pieces of art
from a sacred museum
bit by bit
bite by bite
when he thinks no one is watching.

— Julie Wheeler
 

Julie says, “About me and my writing - I live in Alton, off the beaten path. I've always loved writing and consider words to be gifts which often surprise me by their gathering. The whole process, from making the original scratchings to pondering, editing, and then sharing, is incredibly gratifying.”

— Pat Parnell, Stratham