Eric Robert Nolan- Three Poems

“And What’s New With You?”

Practiced at his brinksmanship,

At the precipice of insult,

He’s an online Iago.

Public forums are perfect for him

To ask the hard questions:

“Seeing anyone?

“Why are you

“Online on a Friday night?”

About himself, his words 

Know no parsimony.

Ever the raconteur,

He interjects anecdotes

About his adoring wife.

Then the gauntlet is thrown:

“And What’s New With you?”

Our recent re-acquaintance 

Is only a veiled joust.

The world wide web is made medieval --

Reduced to the muddy yard.

Rejecting heavy lances

I, a serf, 

Reach for the oblique wood bow of sarcasm,

And its arrow of desperate indifference:

“So glad you found me, old friend.”

Spite

Spite is the rusty spade

of a sharp shovel

digging up dirt and flinging it.

Yet some soft soil

always clings

to its own belly.  

Politics (A Haiku)

red rats, blue weasels -- 

opportunistic little

mammals dart at votes.

Bio:

Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.   He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia.  His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress.   Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations.

Eric’s poetry has been featured by Every Day Poets, Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, Dead Snakes and elsewhere.