Maurice Oliver

A REOCCURRING DREAM, SWALLOWING TREES

   
  In this scenario
                                      the audience is encouraged to believe
                                      there's a cold war raging in the pitcher
  of milk, performed by a secret
               agent disguised as the lit interior of a late-model
                                                                             car. Life is a
  bed wetter that likes a constant temperature of 88 degrees.
   
  Hand shakes are the accepted gesture when first meeting.
              The demilitarize-zone wears a name-tag and is 
  setup between
                                              the wrist and collarbone.
  If anything aches it's OK to rub it.
  Foot soldiers do. Some even open the window when they
                                             dream. And if they get lost,
  they subtract the remaining body
  fluids then multiply their mother's age by two. What's left equals
  religion or a canary in a coal mine. Either way, most people
                                   don't  mind
                                            eating off paper plates and have
  no problem writing a letter now 
  and then to a convicted felon.
  They find comfort in knowing the getaway car has a full tank and
  say they keep the extra voice in 
                                                 a jewelry box, simply because it's the
  last place anybody would look.

After almost a decade of working as a freelance photographer in Europe, Maurice Oliver returned to America in 1990 to work for the Los Angeles Times. Then, in 1995, he made a life-long dream reality by traveling around the world for eight months. But instead of taking pictures, he recorded the experience in a journal, which eventually became dozens of poems. And so began his desire to be a poet. His poetry has appeared in The Potomac Journal, Circle Magazine, The MAG, Tryst3 Journal, Eye-Shot, Pebble Lake Review, Green Silk Journal, The Surface, Word Riot, Taj Mahal Review (India), Dandelion Magazine (Canada), Stride Magazine (UK), Retort Magazine (Australia), & online at unlikelystories.org, lilylitreview.com, thievesjargon.com, subtletea.com, interpoetry.com (UK), kritya.com (India), blueprintreview.de (Germany) and elsewhere. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is a private tutor.