The Harasser
/Robert Arthur
Now that you are ash with an unlisted number, I’ll call you forever
What of the blooms of life that March has promised to the rain
Rising into branches, the moon is caught in interstices of shadow
Ghosts prowl the parking lot beyond the tarmacadam road
Where are my car keys
Where is my phone
Author’s Commentary: I was inspired to wite the poem when I noticed a little bit of a harasser in myself and wanted to show a situation in which that demon is both loving and sympathetic, The short poem went through many long-poem drafts before I realized it had to be short and how to do it. It was easy after that.
Robert P. Arthur is President Emeritus of the Poetry Society of Virginia and has twice been a finalist for Poet Laureate of Virginia. His Hymn to the Chesapeake was Road Publishers best-selling book, which he turned into a "poem/play" that played in Washington D.C, New York City, St. Petersburg Russia, and many theatres in Virginia.
