John Tustin - One Poem

Snow Coming in Sideways

On the road
In the dark
With
The snow coming in sideways

Street and its beyond
Glitterless
And
Desiccating
Before my eyes

Occasional car stopped
Flashing red
Big and helpless
Exposed
Like a poisoned insect

And
I want to fly
Headlong
Into the slanted storm

Instruments failing
Body breaking apart

Not through it –
Into it

Drowning
In the mouth
Of the tide

Extinguishing
The last
Small
Lovely light

Alive
And ended
At last



John Tustin’s poetry has appeared in Poem, The Medulla Review, and Short Fast and Deadly, among others.