Running On Empty
Sometimes,
late at night
when shadows whisper
and the kids
have stopped arguing
and retreated
to their bedrooms,
and the dogs are fed
and sleeping in the corner,
and the lights
have all been turned off,
the dishes washed
but not put away
and coffee is prepared for morning
the silence piles up
like laundry on the couch.
I find myself
standing here, pummeled
as life replays the day
highlighting failures
and what could have been.
After the onslaught
realizing that loneliness
is my only companion
in times like these,
Invited or not.
I raise a pint
having gone the distance
one more time,
bruised and beaten
but on my feet.
Jake St. John has been referred to as “a neo-beat adventurer” who spends his time scratching down poems from aloft barstools scattered around New England. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including his latest, The 13th Round (Six Foot Swells Press, 2025). He is the editor of Elephant and is considered an original member of the New London School of Poets. His poems have appeared in print and online journals around the world.
