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  1. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
  2. Medicine and Meaning
  3. Left Peering

Left Peering

By Stephen Phillip Johnson

What moves, shore or ship,

   when souls sail, blinking,

        heartbeat . . .  a blip,

yonder fog engaged,

   muted by seas

        no mortal sails?

We but hold the lamp,

   squint- at their departure,

        left here to wade-

shallow waters lapping,

   tugging, with a sweet tide

        we’ve yet to taste.


Stephen Phillip Johnson is a Mountain Home carpenter. Writing is his itch. Within the halls of medicine, where he’s been (repeatedly) healed, reside flocks of muses.

Posted on April 20, 2023

Filed Under: 7 - Poetry

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