PERSONIFICATION POEMS

Skylight Man

Forever watching,
forever staring,
forever he surveys the world
through his sun-tinted
monocle.
Silent,
streaked with rain,
unmoved by wind,
he stands guard.
I see my face in him
as I wake and as I drift
to sleep.

I feel his solitude
seep down
into a cold gray puddle
around my feet.
He never smiles
nor does he blink.
I do those things for him
when the light
is just right.

--Niall Janney
Hypodermic

A devil
lies in wait
for its next sacrifice.
It spies one,
fills with poison,
and sends its puffy white assistant
to prepare the unwilling victim.
Then
this being of pure evil
roars up
and sinks its single fang
into the distressed prey,
pumps its poison into the
bloodstream
until it has tortured sufficiently.
It retreats, fang glistening
with your blood.

--Benjamin F. Williams
Adirondack Chair

The four-legged beast
squats, stationary.
Its back, arched toward heaven,
invites me.
I stalk it
then drop
into its rough, comforting embrace
and let myself be
taken.

--Jacob Miller