When It Comes
(previously published in Literary Tonic)


The peace becomes unbearable.
The perfect contours of your life
Settled on perfectly symmetrical streets.
And suddenly you realize
It’s a fire you want!
Something unexpected
That will make your head jolt
Side to side
Trying to catch whatever it was
That rushed past you
Ruffling your hair.

You’ll throw the laundry
Into the street,
Pack as many books
As you can carry,
Burn the odds and ends
That cannot fit
Into the sad suitcase
And leave a poem
On your desk
Aptly titled “Goodbye.”

You’ll walk the old road
Out of town,
Or crack the sleeping car awake,
Rear forth in the early-morning frost,
The cigarette’s lonely cat’s eye
Your only beacon
In the old, untrusting dark.



A Protest


The place you left is not so bad.
This creaking world, with its cities
And all night entertainments,
With its forests and mountains
And slow-pilgrim winds
Seeking out the sea.

This time of year the light
Grows sharp
And the color in the trees
Overflow their tender veins.
Old lady moon
Hangs up her lantern
And they say that only ghost
Will follow her home.

But no one should depend
On such a faulty flame
To understand their life.
Fruit only ripens in the sun
And I am convinced
You must return
To the taproots of yourself
To begin again
The slow inching through the dark.



Seth Jani is a young poet from the Northeast. He is the founder and editor of Seven CirclePress (www.sevencirclepress.com) and EarthSpeak Magazine (www.earthspeakmagazine.com). He has traveled the country working with various conservation/restoration non-profits and currently resides in Seattle, WA. His work has appeared in The Holly Rose Review, Heroin Love Songs, Camroc Press Review, Shoots & Vines, The Foundling Review, Writers' Bloc (Rutgers),tinfoildresses, Asphodel Madness, Literary Tonic, Chantarelle’s Notebook and others.