Peter E. Murphy
's
poems and essays have appeared in The Atlanta Review, Beloit Poetry Journal,
Commonweal, The Shakespeare Quarterly, World Order, Yellow Silk, and elsewhere. He is
a poetry consultant to the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and founder/director of the
Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway held annually in Cape May His online lessons for reading and writing poetry can
be found at WNET: Fooling with Words.
Baptism
This time I wake under a bridge.
My ochre face rises in the rear
view mirror like a jaundiced sun.
This time my trousers are damp.
This time my trousers are dry.
This time I wake in a gutter.
Rain flows around me.
This time I am alone.
This time I am alone.
This time it is a river.
This time an inlet.
Waters rush through me.
A disorganized river.
This proof.
This time I wake in the Chevy.
My salmon face rises in the mirror.
This time an ocean.
The days crash over me.
My name is Not Yet.
My name is Almost.
My name is About to.
