J.H. Johns

SOMETHING FISHY

Multiple bodies
buried
along Ocean Parkway;

legs and feet
showing up
at
Davis Park;

who dunit;
how dunit;
how many dunit;

crimes being “solved;”
a suspect being “arrested;”
a wife filing for divorce;
children who are traumatized;
communities now at ease;

hey;
pull over;
stop the car;
get out;
go into the dunes;
face the ocean;
take a moment-
there!

Do you smell it?
Is there something fishy in the air?


Paul Churchill Mann's YouTube video reading of "Something Fishy"


J.H. confesses: "Having been up and down that road going through Gilgo many times, I have always wondered-over bodies and time- how can one realistically park- at night, at any time- on that road- I mean, I know you can see in both directions quite clearly- but how do you park, take out a body- or even dig a hole- without seriously upping your risk of being spotted? I always thought that whoever was doing it came at it with a boat from the ocean side...Unless he was dropped off."

J.H. JOHNS “grew up and came of age” while living in East Tennessee and Middle Georgia. Specifically, the two places “responsible” for the writer that he has become are Knoxville, Tennessee and Milledgeville, Georgia. Since then, he has moved on to Chicago- for a brief stint- and New York City- for a significantly longer stay. Currently, he is “holed up” in a small town where when he is not writing, he tends to his “nature preserve” and his “back forty.” His goal is to surround his house with all sorts of vegetation so as to obscure it from the gaze of the “locals.”  He is assisted in this task by his coonhound buddy and companion, Roma. J. H. Johns was a Pushcart nominee in 2018.