WK Lawrence is the author of the novel The Punk and the Professor. He holds an MFA from the Southampton Writers’ Program and a doctorate in education from Northeastern University. Born and raised in New York, he has also lived in Oregon, Virginia, Florida, and Rhode Island. He currently lives in North Carolina, teaches writing at NC State University, and directs the NC State Young Writers’ Workshops.
Closed
These are the vapors around the rising sun—
The common man that opens learning eyes.
The strong rise on what the weak rely on
Until they speak with new leader high
Above with the great spirit on his side
And victory follows upon our time
Of world peace and unity
And we have made greatness our companion
Until the hourglass is once again flipped
When the common man closes his eyes to the sun.
The Court Yard
The sycamore speaks in the night.
Rhododendrons in full bloom below
And beside a brick wall
With ivy running up and around
Choking the wall, masking it.
Unmendacious and inscrutable.
There’s a beast who goes in and out
A hole in the wall along the bottom
Without paying a single toll
Unfazed by what is on either side
Waiting for it to fall into the teeth of consequence.
Book of Faces
Read this book of faces
a common determiner of fate
a place to show your fears
in the very way you hide your tears
in photographs that don’t measure
the loneliness in the room
or the addiction to bodies, parties,
just people in a room
to save you from the thriller
of an empty space
where most don’t go until they’re dead
because they wouldn’t know how to survive
with a door closed
long enough to get to know themselves
so it’s a show
and tell
ring the bells of lunacy
waste your time
in a world of buoyancy.