Facts on the Ground
Rich Murphy
Those inanimate objects
that once provided opportunities
for tripping over show up
in ingredients for appliances.
Chrome truck bumpers,
aluminum refrigerators,
and silicon valleys wait
at restless, needy fingertips
along with plastic bottles.
Factories throw at discomfort pillows.
The yogi and acrobat stretch
for longer life with great might,
but forever rings dangle
without grip and swing.
Those stones discovered
in old cemeteries bookmark
for returns to the inert library
loans where ashes and dust
take root or press into granite,
limestone, and marble.
Rich Murphy’s latest collections, Elephant by Bass Clef Books, Storage Shed and Inside Stories by Resource Publications and Mind of Europe: A Genealogy to The Fat Man and Susan Constant by Cyberwit were published 2024-2025, following First Aid and Footholds (2023). Asylum Seeker (2018) was published by Press Americana. His poetry won The Poetry Prize at Press Americana twice for Americana (2013), The Left Behind (2021), and Gival Press Poetry Prize for Voyeur (2008). His first book was The Apple in the Monkey Tree by Codhill Press (2007). Rich Murphy is online at richinkworkshop, at linkedin, and at YouTube.