The River. by Daniel Crocker

Sitting on the banks of the Gasconade

with John Dorsey

we agree that every poet who started

out in the '90s is a genius

Schumejda, Graziano

all of them

We swap rumors

catch up on our lives

and our secrets

John offers me a piece of fried chicken

I decline

We know we're biased

Two middle-aged poetry men

young again for a few hours

surrounded by porch dogs

And who gives a shit, really

The river is muddy

The beer is cold

The friendship old and comfortable

as two lovers who share a universe

of language in just a few words

across the expanse

of a wobbly table. 

Daniel Crocker's work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review, Hobart, Big Muddy, New World Writing, Stirring, Juked, The Chiron Review, The Mas Tequila Reviewand over 100 others. His books includeLike a Fish (full length) and The One Where I Ruin Your Childhood (e-chap with thousands of downloads) both from Sundress Publications. Green Bean Press published several of his books in the '90s and early 2000s. These include People Everyday and Other Poems, Long Live the 2 of Spades, the novel The Cornstalk Manand the short story collection Do Not Look Directly Into Me. He has also published several chapbooks through various presses. His newest full length collection of poetry, Shit House Rat, was published by Spartan Press in September of 2017. He was the first winner of the Gerald Locklin Prize in poetry. He is the editor ofThe Cape Rock (Southeast Missouri State University) and the co-editor of Trailer Park Quarterly. He's also the host of the podcast, Sanesplaining, about poetry, mental illness and nerd stuff. He is a bipolar, bisexual Gemini living the cliché.