I have had two more poems published today on Poppy Road Review! Spring is here! Please click the link below to read my work and many other wonderful poets!
https://poppyroadreview.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-paris-exhibition-house-at-dusk-by-jan.html
Lakes Like the Dead Sea
We drove through that town where I lived with you.
The 7-11 hasn’t changed. Tattered. Filthy.
And as we drove I wondered why I never noticed
all of the lakes
that are actually beautiful.
We never spent time on any of them.
In fact we never spent any time doing anything
that relaxing.
Only the stripping of clothing and skin
into pools. Sex.
Like melted cheese on taco chips.
Trips to a greasy food stand. Burgers.
Meals you ate by the dozens.
None of which I liked. Or snowmobiles or washing
and folding your clothes.
Or listening to you talk about narrow shoes.
How perfectly narrow your feet were.
How perfect you were.
How perfectly dead those years were.
(C) 2026 Jan Darrow / photo: Pixabay
Dear Readers,
I am absolutely thrilled to let you know that my poem, van Gogh, was published today by a most beautiful publication, Poppy Road Review. Click the link below to read it - and many other talented writers!
https://poppyroadreview.blogspot.com/2026/03/van-gogh-by-jan-darrow.html
Manitoulin Island
A Keeper of Spirits
One weekend in August many years ago
when we were very young
we rented a red Cadillac and drove to Manitoulin Island.
Native people call it Manidoowaaling."Cave of the spirit."
And it has been sacred to the indigenous people of north America
for more than 10,000 years.
We drove up along Lake Huron on the Canadian side
and disembarked from the ferry the next morning.
We found the island windblown. Maybe haunted.
Except for a couple of tourist shops
that were curious sparkling gems of the past
holding an era that no longer existed.
Inside one we found scraps of Danny Dodge.
A famous man.Widely covered in the press.
His death. Possibly reckless.
Yellow newspapers rolled into plastic wrappers
telling a story not belonging to ten thousand years of sacred history.
As we drove on, the gray clouds let loose and soaked the goldenrod
growing alongside the silent roads spinning circles
out to the parameter of people decades earlier that had tried plowing
and planting. Then unable to grow anything of significance
that far up, got up and left their houses behind
abandoned, empty, and ragged in that raw wet wind.
2026 Jan Darrow / Photo: Paul James
The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono. Originally published in 1954 in Vogue under the title, “The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness.”
Dear Readers,
My mom gave me this book a long time ago, and I take it out from time to time to read and remind myself that what we do is important and that our actions matter. And…that there is hope. Yes I recommend!
Jan ❤️
