Articles by Michael Lee Johnson

Poem

• Mother Edith, at 98 (May 31, 2010) poem unrhymed

  The time has come for Mother Edith, and her Angel, too.

• If You Find No Poem (June 28, 2010) poem unrhymed

  If you find no poem on your doorstep in the morning, no paper, no knock on your door, and your life is poorly edited ...

• I Am Old Frustrated Thought (July 26, 2010) cover story poem unrhymed

  Michael Lee Johnson is a poet and freelance writer from Itasca, Illinois. He is heavy influenced by: Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, and Allen Ginsberg.

• Raindrop Baby (August 16, 2010) poem unrhymed

  I'm a raindrop Chicago baby, silhouetted in the night ...

• Harvest Time (September 6, 2010) poem unrhymed

  A Metis Indian lady, drunk -- hands blanketed as in prayer ...

• Illinois Farmers (September 27, 2010) cover story poem unrhymed

  Michael Lee Johnson is a poet and freelance writer from Itasca, Illinois.

• Rose Petals in a Dark Room (April 11, 2011) poem unrhymed

  I walk in a mastery of the night and light, my money changers walk behind me ...

• Life Is -- Transition (December 14, 2015) poem unrhymed

  "Transition, is song, passages..."

• Clockmaker (January 11, 2016) poem unrhymed

  "...life is a brass lever, a wordsmith, an artist at his craft..."

• Jesus in the Snow (March 21, 2016) poem unrhymed

  "I find your footprints here in snow..."

• The Drifter (April 25, 2016) poem unrhymed

  "...The night is a dark believer in drifters..."

• No One Cares (May 30, 2016) poem unrhymed

  "...my life insurance policy is a carburetor full of fumes, worn out filters, filled casket..."

• Solo Boxing (December 26, 2016) poem unrhymed

  "...tugging emotions out of memories embedded..."

• Little Desert Flower (January 23, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...refuge, folded, wrapped in cool spring rain leaves --"

• Lion in My Heart (February 13, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...I fall in love with birds, strangers and wild women..."

• Hazy Arizona Sky (March 13, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...one cup of cool, clear, fool's desert gold..."

• Alberta Bound (April 10, 2017) cover story poem unrhymed

  Once you've been there, it's in your heart forever...

• Children in the Sky (May 15, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...Children...love the moon with small hearts..."

• Detective Poetic Johnson Here (June 12, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...a raisin dry personality who tries to keep sober..."

• Day Time Bitch & Night Time Whore (July 17, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...Coon hunting, fox hunting daddy, I'm the storyteller..."

• Reincarnation (August 14, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...No longer a dishwasher at the House of Pancakes..."

• I Edit My Life (September 11, 2017) poem unrhymed

  "...reviewing the joys and the sorrows..."

• Classic 70's Chick (June 11, 2018) poem unrhymed

  "...Her head stuff, insulated with cotton candy dreams..."

• Restless Hawk (July 9, 2018) poem unrhymed

  "...in the single night, air alone..."

• Lorie (August 6, 2018) poem unrhymed

  "...Go away, leave me thinking..."

• Leonard Cohen My Friend (September 3, 2018) poem unrhymed

  "...Death is a passport, a left behind baggage note..."

• Saskatchewan Sky (October 8, 2018) poem unrhymed

  "...chip off an edge of prairie..."

• South Chicago Night (October 21, 2019) poem unrhymed

  "Night is drifters..."

• Cracker Jack Box Poem (November 25, 2019) poem unrhymed

  "...I don't like to think about endings..."

• Young Couple -- @ Heart Attack Greasy Grill (December 30, 2019) poem unrhymed

  "...Just a teen aged nighttime boy..."

• Unknown Poet from Rue Montpelier (January 27, 2020) poem unrhymed

  "...inside this thin, onion-skinned wall dingy with your dreams..."

• Open Eyes Laid Back (August 31, 2020) poem unrhymed

  "...laid back busy lives, consuming our hours,..."

• Tequila (October 5, 2020) poem unrhymed

  "...Shots offered by traveling strangers..."

• Dance of Tears, Chief Nobody (November 2, 2020) poem unrhymed

  "...earth possessions strapped to my back rawhide..."

• Missing Feeding of the Birds (December 14, 2020) poem unrhymed

  "...these sweet bird sounds lost --..."

• Virus in the Air, Spasms in My Back (May 31, 2021) poem unrhymed

  "...People are dying around me, but I can't save them..."

• Fiction Girl (June 28, 2021) poem unrhymed

  "...Change is a choice where your energy flows..."

• Group Therapy (July 26, 2021) poem unrhymed

  "...It's going to rain tonight, thunder..."

• Cold Gray (August 23, 2021) poem unrhymed

  "...my heart is beyond the sea now..."

• Leaves in December (September 27, 2021) poem unrhymed

  "...left to struggle with the bitterness..."

• Poets Die (April 25, 2022) poem

  "...their spines the centerpiece on crosses on scarecrows..."

• Night Life Jungle Beat, Bar Next Door (May 23, 2022) poem unrhymed

  "...The singers of songs love bars..."

• Deep in My Couch (June 20, 2022) poem unrhymed

  "...I am a temple of worship with trinket dreams..."

• Poets Out of Service (July 18, 2022) poem unrhymed

  "...conversations idle to a whisper..."

• Poetry Man (August 15, 2022) poem unrhymed

  "...Death still comes in the shadow of grief..."

• Keyboard (September 12, 2022) poem unrhymed

  "...I will be at my keyboard late at night..."

• Frogs (October 10, 2022) poem unrhymed

  "...freedom school, free education..."

• 97, Coming to Terms & Goodbye (November 7, 2022) poem unrhymed

  "...facing my own death on my own time..."

• Casket of Love (January 8, 2024) poem unrhymed

  "...the light by which we love..."

• California Summer (February 5, 2024) poem unrhymed

  "...swim into eternal days like this..."

• Ghost I Am (March 11, 2024) poem unrhymed

  "...a thumbnail image of myself in centuries of dust..."

• Four Leaf Clover (April 8, 2024) poem unrhymed

  "...I hear your voice, fragmented words in thunder..."

• Trail of Tears in the Snow (March 10, 2025) poem unrhymed

  "...Let me drive you home for the last time..."

• Just Another Poet (April 7, 2025) poem unrhymed

  "...raise the poets of merit up from the grave..."

• In My Will (May 5, 2025) poem unrhymed

  "...those who long to be free and ferocious..."

• Old Fiddle Man (June 2, 2025) poem unrhymed

  "...to hear a few slim notes for just transitory seconds..."