Dead Men Walking

From first smoky sunrise,
dawning of day and light
into soft haze of mid-morn,
a clearing at noon, sharper still
in day’s second half,
hourglass emptying at
late afternoon, loneliness of
dimming light at dusk, before
the cold black of night.
In the seasons – Spring, Summer,
Autumn, bone-chilling Winter,
unrelenting day after day,
month after month,
year after year,
innocent or guilty,
bad or good matters not
at all, all on this unstoppable
journey toward gallows eternal,
path certain, unwavering, unfailing
knowledge of inevitable fate,
long or short the time,
loud or soft the sound,
echoing footsteps of
dead men walking.

J. B. Hogan is a poet, fiction writer, and local historian. He has been published in a number of journals including the Blue Lake Review, Crack the Spine, Copperfield Review, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Well Read Magazine, and Aphelion. His twelve books include Bar Harbor, Mexican Skies, Living Behind Time, Losing Cotton, The Apostate and, most recently, Forgotten Fayetteville and Washington County (local history). He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Find more by J. B. Hogan in the Author Index.