Wondrous Strange
{An Umbrella Special Feature}


John Milbury-Steen

teaches English as a Second Language at Temple University, Philadelphia. He received a Master’s in Creative Writing from Indiana University, Bloomington, studying with Ruth Stone.

He served in the Peace Corps in Liberia, West Africa and has worked as an artificial intelligence programmer in Computer Based Education at the University of Delaware.

Among his publishing credits are The Beloit Poetry Journal, Blue Unicorn, Dark Horse, The Piedmont Literary Review and Shenandoah


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A Horsie of a Whale

Was walking down the street towards a bar
because I needed an uplifting drink
and caught sight of an old, decrepit car
that had a bumper sticker saying HONK
IF YOU, TOO, HAD A HORSIE OF A WHALE.
Small world, I did, a Glidesdale, and recall

I used to ride him bareback in the bay.
I couldn’t swim. He never dove while I
was holding on as Neptune of the sea
and sometimes (what a virtuoso guy!)
he would swim backwards so the blinding spray,
instead of getting on me, blew away.

I really missed him as I sat and drank
at Ye Olde Cussèd Swan Upon the Bank.



 
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