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Gary Glauber

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Little Cherub

The boy seems to know far too much.
He’s young but seems less than innocent,
an old soul I wouldn’t have trusted
even in some earlier incarnation.

When I see him at the public pool,
doing things no youngster should do,
it makes me crave a strong drink.

Beware both baby and bathwater;
beware everything you can possibly think.

Whiskey hits gullet with fire,
reminding me of all that I love
and desire to protect, now and always,
to never forget.

In church, he looks heavenly
in white robes, little angel
incapable of evil, dreaming only good.
Altar boy altered,
knowing open hearts make easy targets.

His secrets are troubling,
what occurs behind the giggling.
His private hell is burning
beside lessons he’s not learning.

When fire catches into flame
your children will be safe again,
when all I loved before today
catches wind and melts away.

Gary Glauber is a widely published poet, fiction writer, teacher, and former music journalist. He champions the underdog, and strives to survive modern life’s absurdities. He has two collections, Small Consolations (Aldrich Press) and Worth the Candle (Five Oaks Press), and a chapbook, Memory Marries Desire (Finishing Line Press).  A new chapbook of surreal work, The Covalence of Equanimity, a winner of the 2019 James Tate International Poetry Prize, is now available from SurVision Books. 
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