A Poem by Michael Lee Johnson

Arctic Chill North

Alberta arctic chill freezes my life in exile.
North Saskatchewan River crystallizes froze thick.
My life entomb 10 years here, prairie path, those thorns,
a hundred threats US government, border checks run further north.
I stand still in exile, live my life in mixture of colors, lone wolf, tangerine moons,
hang nail in this corner of my bachelor suite sleep for years.
I close down curtains on this chapter with an amnesty agreement, a pledge.
I closed own this sunspace, northern lights,
files I never burn draft card I never toss away.
Thieves, dawn passion, pack up start home tonight.
This hell hangs on my head passes to a hallo, child, dream, and murders.
Let this flicker between notes and years die ignore spaces and pass.
Radio sounds, in my car, my ears, and blast old tunes
on my way back home, Indiana, 1,728 miles away.

Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam era.  he is a Canadian and US citizen.  Today he is a poet, a freelance writer, amateur photographer, small business owner in Itasca, Illinois.  He has been published in more than 880 small press magazines in 27 countries, and he edits 10 poetry sites.  Author's website:  http://poetryman.mysite.com/  Michael is the author of The Lost American:  From Exile to Freedom (136 page book) ISBN:  978-0-595-46091-5, several chapbooks of poetry, including From Which Place the Morning Rises and Challenge of Night and Day, and Chicago Poems.  He also has over 83 poetry videos on YouTube as of 2015:  https://www.youtube.com/user/poetrymanusa/videos  Michael Lee Johnson has been nominated for 2 Pushcart Prize awards for poetry in 2015.