Richard Schnap - Two Poems

As The Light Turned Grey

When the blue haired nurse
With the skeleton gloves
Asked what concerned you most
You replied “pain” and “fear”

And I secretly thought
That it is true that we
Become wise when the shadow
Of death waits at the foot of our bed

For you had arranged your life
To be empty of dark concerns
Like an amusement park designed
By a cartoon deity with laughing eyes

But now as the end approached
You relearned the lessons of those
Not as fortunate to blissfully forget
The knives of the world never grow dull



Loss For Words

He was a natural salesman
With the innate ability
To persuade even a sinner
To return home to God

Knowing that to do it
He must adopt the manner
And speech of the prospect
As seamlessly as a chameleon

But when tragedy befell him
And he had to find a way
To convince himself to forget
The shadow darkening his heart

He found he could never
Truly imitate himself
For he was now a stranger
Speaking a language of its own



Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A two-time Best of the Net nominee, his poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas. His first chapbook, "A Wind From Nowhere", is available from Flutter Press.