TO THE LIGHTHOUSE
by Nicholas Johnson
All families have their lore, their mystery
and nostalgia to put on movie screens.
My Lady of the Cinema still screams
out for revenge, love, abuse; she leaves me
to contemplate the ruins, the old house and sea.
Where is the bright light sent to intervene
and save us from our loud and squabbly scenes?
These minor parts are still the parts of history.
Oh the sea, the sea, who’s crying in this hurricane?
I look for you, for signs along the way.
Others pass me by but listen to me sing.
The wind out here sounds totally insane.
A good time is not enough for me I say.
The wind, rain, sand in my face just plain sting.
Originally published in Poetry in Performance #39, Annual Spring Poetry
Festival, The City College of New York, 17 May 2011, Edited by
Gregory Crosby and Lynn Dion, p. 204.
Nicholas Johnson (1944-2019) and Maureen Holm (1951-2005) were the co-founders of BigCityLit.
Maureen Holm was a poet, novelist, editor, literary translator, arts lawyer, and senior essayist and articles editor for Big City Lit. She lived in Manhattan. Holm received her B.A. degree in German Literature & Philosophy, J.D. in 1981, an LL.M in 1991. She served as translator/editor for UNIDO, IIASA, Simmering Graz Pauker A.G., Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna). She translated the German Bankruptcy Code for the OECD, and was an interpreter for depositions, hearings, and trials. Her commercial transactional and litigation practice focused on European licensors and manufacturers. She was a founder and co-producer of Lyric Recovery Festival at Carnegie Hall (a biannual of poetry-music).
Nicholas Johnson was the editor of BigCityLit. His chapbook, Degrees of Freedom, is available from Bright Hill Press. We encourage you to read our 20th Anniversary Issue, which is dedicated to Nicholas’ memory.