The Journal of a Journalist

Here's Russell Nichols, a freelance writer and poet who used to pound a city beat at the Boston Globe:

with a kiss, i interviewed your soul

your smile was an inverted pyramid

telling me the good news

before a single word was uttered

you didn't miss a beat

and i kept coming back for another scoop

scattered articles

of clothing gave away the story

you liked me because my methods

were old-fashioned

i was networking with your mind, body and spirit

making contacts with your eyes

but i was unethical

i quoted your dreams

without citing you as my source

of inspiration

i have plagiarized your body language

and paraphrased our destiny in my own words

i have read your lips

without reading the byline

and did not notice my name

on the tip of your tongue

i now broadcast shadows

in the light of a public relation-ship

and you anchored your hopes

in the depths of my fears

i have buried the lede

beneath the beckoning of your breaths

i have forgotten you

© Russell Nichols