top of page

[Poetry] Two Poems by Jim Jas


Two-fold Transition


The day faded in

behind the warmth of the sun. The leaves fell one by one onto the ground, as if someone was counting them.

The wind caught the bird songs between the leaves and put a blanket over the sunlit canal. The boats bobbed gently on the waves, giving a steady beat to the growing morning.


Forced dog owners and free parents met over the uneven bay payment.

Freshly baked bread arrived in their counters,

and the baristas were ready to brew.

Joggers passed the smell in a hurry to nowhere.


In the park on the old strategic hill,

streams started traveling down the giant steps

on the way to join their larger cousin. The winter fought for attention in the sunbeams, asking the wind for help.

The trees shook off their seasonal decline,

standing taller and more radiant than ever.


The harbor mixed indigenous people

with disembarking tourists.

Chatter from the soon-to-be open-air cafés

washed well into the afternoon.

The glasses in the beer garden would last all night.


The former industrial neighborhood was

breathing lighter than ever.

Past olympic failures were nowhere to be seen,

replaced by renewed certainty.

Following its own model,

the city would lead the future.



Average Joe Unity


The sound of the stroller wheels

broke the darkness.

The rolling vibrations

bounced against the

yawning windows above,

as the raised street lights

shivered in the wind.


By the end of the bricked avenue,

the first tram was making its way

to the park station.

Four legged furs

mazed their way through the parterre,

revealing the holiday pounds

of their owners.


The garbage men mixed their smell

with the repeated bakeries,

and the common blackbirds

sang their seasonal songs.

As my footsteps sunk

into the morning soup,

I thought of the rainbow skin.

The breaking spectrum

of every tone.

All the connection that

rested within.


Everywhere around me was life.

Life that was moving.

Life, for everyone.



Jim Jas was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, where he works as a software engineer. Jim studied poetry and fiction writing at the University of Sheffield, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Stockholm University. His work appears in Literary Yard, New Reader Magazine, Literary Orphans, among others.






Comments


bottom of page