John Oughton

NOCTURNE

There’s nothing like driving
as starlight pours through
the colander
of the sky

and the tires rumble
and hiss
back-up to the rattler
softly shaking

beside the dim light of
my sample uranium
the gentle burn from
whiskey down my throat

got a firearm
got a big SUV
life’s better when I’m on edge
plates expired,
still driving
still glowing


John reads "Nocturne":



Subscribe to Channel 52 for first view of new videos.


John confesses: "'An Oklahoma man was arrested last month after police say a routine traffic stop turned up a gun, a rattlesnake, an open bottle of whiskey and rod of radioactive uranium.' – news item, July 12, 2019."

JOHN OUGHTON is the author of over 400 articles, reviews and interviews, five books of poetry, most recently Time Slip (Guernica Editions), a mystery novel (Death by Triangulation) and a forthcoming book on how to teach higher education. While attending the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, he worked closely with Anne Waldman and Allen Ginsberg. He lives in Toronto.