It starts the way it ends-
someone yells Hallelujah
and the hooligans put away their
brass knuckles and firearms then
sing lullabies to coax the wings out.
Pin the tail on the donkey is replaced
with games of ball and jacks.
The bungo juice is passed around one
final time and then the soberest one
in the bunch stumbles up to read out
aloud the note scotch-taped to the pearly
gates, you know, the one that says;
Picking-up some Chinese takeaway,
Be Back In A Jiffy!
Biography
After almost a decade of working as a freelance photographer in Europe,
Maurice Oliver returned to America in 1990. Then, in 1995, he made a
life-long dream reality by traveling around the world for eight months. But
instead of taking pictures, he recorded the experience in a journal which
eventually became poems. And so began his desire to be a poet. His
poetry has appeared in numerous national and international publications
and literary websites including Potomac Journal, Pebble Lake Review,
Frigg Magazine, Dandelion Magazine, (Canada), Stride Magazine (UK),
Cha Asian Literary Journal, (Hong Kong), Kritya (India), Blueprint Review,
(Germany) and Arabesques Review (Algeria). His forth chapbook was One
Remedy Is Travel (Origami Condom, 2007). He edits the literary ezine
Eye Socket Journal at: http://eyesocketjournal.blogspot.com . He lives
in Portland, OR, where he works as a private tutor.
