Poetry by Jon Wilder

heaven is forever i get that / but doesn’t the idea of forever scare anyone else / won’t we get bored / is it like church / cause i don’t like church / i spend most of it drawing on welcome cards and looking at the clock / it’s not like i have anything else to do / it’s knowing i’ll spend the morning listening to a message i’ve heard a thousand times / something about disciples and learning from your mistakes / hands during prayer time / hymns in triplicate / McDonalds on the drive home / hey Dad is salt good for anxiety / cause the basic beauty of a clouded eden isn’t doing it for me / i feel i’d wanna move eventually / like a small town to escape / it’s either get out or never leave / but if i don’t want heaven will i be chained to a rock for eternity / lashed with a flaming whip while demons dance around me / will the devil do the work or will his flunkies handle the real pain / do you go numb or is the hurt for good / are these the only options / can i get a third / look at the clock Dad you’re running kinda long


Jon Wilder is a poet and musician living in Portland, OR. He writes, records and releases music under the name Boom Years and his poetry has been featured in Levee Magazine, Duck Lake Books, Sonder Midwest & Salem State. His first book “Bullpen no. 1” was released in 2016 and his second collection of poetry “Original Fear” comes out on May 13.