John FitzGerald
John FitzGerald is a poet, writer, editor, and attorney in Los Angeles. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Ireland, he attended the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, where he was editor of the Law Review. The recipient of the 2022 Naji Naaman Literary Prize, he is the author of four books, more recently Favorite Bedtime Stories (Salmon Poetry), finalist for the Julie Suk Book Award, and The Mind (Salmon Poetry) semifinalist for the Alice James Book Award.
Other works include Primate, a novel and screenplay, and the non-fiction For All I Know.
He has contributed to many anthologies, notably The Plume Anthology of Poetry, Even the Daybreak: 35 Years of Salmon Poetry, Human and Inhuman Monstrous Poems, Rubicon: Words and Art inspired by Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, From the Four-Chambered Heart: In Tribute to Anais Nin, Dogs Singing: A Tribute Anthology, and Poetry: Reading it, Writing it, Publishing it.
Other publications include World Literature Today, The Taos Journal of Poetry and Art, December Magazine, The Los Angeles Review, Margie, Plume, The Warwick Review, From the Fishouse, Barnwood Mag, and The American Journal of Poetry.
https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/john_fitzgerald
John FitzGerald is a poet, writer, editor, and attorney in Los Angeles. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Ireland, he attended the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, where he was editor of the Law Review. The recipient of the 2022 Naji Naaman Literary Prize, he is the author of four books, more recently Favorite Bedtime Stories (Salmon Poetry), finalist for the Julie Suk Book Award, and The Mind (Salmon Poetry) semifinalist for the Alice James Book Award.
Other works include Primate, a novel and screenplay, and the non-fiction For All I Know.
He has contributed to many anthologies, notably The Plume Anthology of Poetry, Even the Daybreak: 35 Years of Salmon Poetry, Human and Inhuman Monstrous Poems, Rubicon: Words and Art inspired by Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, From the Four-Chambered Heart: In Tribute to Anais Nin, Dogs Singing: A Tribute Anthology, and Poetry: Reading it, Writing it, Publishing it.
Other publications include World Literature Today, The Taos Journal of Poetry and Art, December Magazine, The Los Angeles Review, Margie, Plume, The Warwick Review, From the Fishouse, Barnwood Mag, and The American Journal of Poetry.
https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/john_fitzgerald
Leopard
The strut says I am, ooh, much more physical than you.
I’ve crouched on a limb and considered giraffe.
You’d better climb.
I’ll be up that tree on your primate ass.
Where I am men hide.
I’ll slap you like the monkey you are.
Paws out, already back, slapped again from the other side.
Two three times ‘til you know you’ve been hit.
I like the instant you cling to the claw before you flop.
You think in that moment you might get away.
I love your hope.
It makes me growl.
I’ll let you get a little in before I pounce.
Oblong, imbalanced. Bet your feet slide out,
smart guy, language-man, who’s serious now?
Brain, meet mister tooth.
John FitzGerald, from Favorite Bedtime Stories (Salmon Poetry)
The strut says I am, ooh, much more physical than you.
I’ve crouched on a limb and considered giraffe.
You’d better climb.
I’ll be up that tree on your primate ass.
Where I am men hide.
I’ll slap you like the monkey you are.
Paws out, already back, slapped again from the other side.
Two three times ‘til you know you’ve been hit.
I like the instant you cling to the claw before you flop.
You think in that moment you might get away.
I love your hope.
It makes me growl.
I’ll let you get a little in before I pounce.
Oblong, imbalanced. Bet your feet slide out,
smart guy, language-man, who’s serious now?
Brain, meet mister tooth.
John FitzGerald, from Favorite Bedtime Stories (Salmon Poetry)
© 2024 John FitzGerald
John FitzGerald was a Featured Poet at the April 2024 Second Sunday Poetry Series
John FitzGerald was a Featured Poet at the April 2024 Second Sunday Poetry Series