Resurrection Mary

I learned years ago about true stories versus myths.
I learned early in hustle times to distinguish single cashback rewards
from whores-dime store dancers from proper dates, believers in white party dresses—
I never worried about the lingo of my sentence structure in my life.
Until the resurrection, Resurrection Mary came along.
Life is a melody breather, philosopher of ghosts, past, pink pillow talk, and dreams.
Resurrection Mary was a factory worker always dressed in white satin on weekends.
Single life is a hollow road. A narrow highway passes with a cemetery nearby.
I was then a writer, a poet of screams, dementia, limited skills, and open skulls thoughts.
I hampered history into craniums, criminal minds, images of release, and sexual climax.
She kissed my breath and dreamed of fog, new beginnings when she was conscious.
I was a drifter of singles dances; she was a drifter in time, shadow maker.
I often breathed on her forehead, kissed fleeting lips, and left the body for legends
to toss carcass into the south wind those south gate storms.
Jesus is a perfume seller of night scent when midnight arrives.
Jesus is aroused by an iron bar cemetery bender, stretcher of the nights into years.
Mary clutches her small purse, talks of injustice, and hitchhikes back and forth in time.
She posted her stamp on me, fooled my desires, her stopwatch clicked in time, then stopped.
Resurrection Mary still holds a French 75 cocktail at the end of the barstool in time.
Shake it off. No shame put those dancing shoes on one more time.

Anecdote: Resurrection Mary is a well-known Chicago area ghost story. Of the "vanishing hitchhiker" type, the story takes place outside Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, Illinois, a few miles southwest of Chicago. The quote is taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam era. Today he is a poet in the greater Chicagoland area, IL. He has 266 YouTube poetry videos. Michael Lee Johnson is an internationally published poet in 44 countries, several published poetry books, nominated for 5 Pushcart Prize awards and 6 Best of the Net nominations. He is editor-in-chief of 3 poetry anthologies, all available on Amazon, and has several poetry books and chapbooks. He has over 443 published poems. Michael is the administrator of 6 Facebook Poetry groups. Member Illinois State Poetry Society: http://www.illinoispoets.org/

Find more by Michael Lee Johnson in the Author Index.

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