c o n v e r g e n c e: LINVILLE

c o n v e r g e n c e:
an online journal of poetry & art

EDITOR'S CHOICE: cynthia linville's

Jason Houston

TROUBLED
By Jason Houston

The blistering heat pierces me to my bones.
My thirst drives me to the point of desperation.
Dreams of better times race through my scorched brain.
The sound of thunder claps loudly in the sky close by.
I wonder which Pagan God is laughing at me.
Is it Thor with his mighty hammer smashing clouds?
Is it Setesh craftily mocking me from behind the clouds?
The sky opens up its reservoir and it drenches me in liquid.
My hard work washes away in one act of the god above.
With the whole world drenched in liquid irony,
all that ever was is washed away forever!

Photographs by Ruben Briseno Reveles

MONKEY COLONY
By Jason Houston

Time flows for us all,
But as we flow
We do not grow.

The world gets older,
And we get bolder
In our disorder.

We pollute and recycle,
And we do it all
On a weekly cycle.

As electric cars fly by,
The fossils still exist
We can't fathom why.

We broke our biosphere,
And make it a greenhouse
So now we outsource.

The rockets rumble,
And we load up
To flee as earth crumbles.

Less Hairy Bipedal Monkeys
Romanticize about ruining
Other planets.

Racing towards outer space,
They are ready to make
More Colonial disgrace.

Out of fear they refuse
To repair the mess
Caused by misuse.

Colonizers do not have the right,
Just because no one is in sight
At the new site.

Our world's end is not near,
We have the gear
To make the repair.

The plight of the flight
Of the Less Hairy Bipedal Monkey
Is not at all right.

It is merely a business play,
To get more pay,
Not our planet's decay.

IX
By Jason Houston

Bright but not blinding
Warmth passing over body
Like an invisible wave
That engulfs the body
In comfortable warm feeling

            Beautiful brown body firmly
            Rooted in the Earth
            Long arms reaching high
            Elegant green leaves
            Cutting sunlight and making
            A splendid organic tapestry

                        Invisible powerfully calming entity
                        That washes over body
                        Naturally balancing the sun's
                        Heat with calm coolness
                        That is like a
                        Sweet natural feeling caress

                                    Crystal clear passing over
                                    Body taking away the
                                    Dirt of the day
                                    And releasing life's tensions
                                    In nature's true way

XI

By Jason Houston

Beautiful white clouds high in the sky
Calming heat beaming down
Trees with colorful canopy of green and brown
A bird chirping the only sound

Jason Houston

Jason Houston was born and raised in Arcata, California. He is a disabled veteran of the U.S. Army and father of two great kids. Throughout his life, he has been to many different places in the U.S. and other countries. Travelling to so many places has given him experiences that have shaped him and his writing. He has spent four years studying English and working on his forthcoming poetry manuscript. His writing projects are not just limited to poetry; he also writes fiction. He is working on several projects in different genres.