Mantis 21 (Summer 2023)
To Raise a Glass, or Down It
David J.S. Pickering
Pain Has No Memory in Rockaway Beach Oregon
Luke 4:24
No prophet is welcome in his hometown,
and come next summer locals will forget
forewarnings of clouds, omens of breakdown.
No prophet is welcome. In this hometown
divorcees smoke all day in old nightgowns,
exes drunk by noon slurring epithets.
No prophet is welcome in his hometown,
and come next summer locals will forget.
DAVID J.S. PICKERING is a native Oregonian, having grown up and lived much of his life in the working-class culture of the North Oregon Coast. He received the 2020 Airlie Prize for his first poetry collection, Jesus Comes to Me as Judy Garland (Airlie Press,09/2021). His poetry is published in a variety of journals including Reed Magazine, Pine Row, Raven Chronicles, and Gertrude Journal. David never aspired to have a website, so he is a bit nonplussed to find that he now owns one, www.pickpoetry.com. David lives with his husband in Hillsboro, Oregon.