stephen j. golds

three poems

Fear 

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Watching the rise and fall 
of my daughters sleep, 
I worry like all parents do. 
I worry for their health and happiness, 
for their futures and their hearts but
my biggest fear is that
they’ll grow up to be like 
their father.

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Full Disclosure 

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Take these paper napkin sentiments, 
wipe your mouth.
I’ve always been 
a piece of shit,
wielding my love like
some bloody machete.
No one gets out of here 
Unscathed. I’m sorry,
I have to live in this place.

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Couch

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It’s empty there now.
With the volume turned low, 
we were the most intimate many times. 
But it’s empty there now,
just somewhere I sit to watch the television screen
making shapes of things that blur
& we are strangers who hardly think of one other.

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3 February, 2021

Stephen J. Golds was born in London, U.K, but has lived in Japan for most of his adult life. He enjoys spending time with his daughters, reading books, traveling, boxing and listening to old Soul LPs. His novels are Say Goodbye When I’m Gone (Red Dog Press) Always the Dead (Close to the Bone) Poems for Ghosts in Empty Tenement Windows and the forthcoming collection Love Like Bleeding Out With an Empty Gun in Your Hand. He is also current Poetry Editor @scatterofashes