Unheard Scream, John Flynn's first chapbook of poems

 UNHEARD SCREAM

Unheard Scream was the first chapbook I ever published. It came out in 2003. Good luck finding a paper copy. I searched a long time before digging this one up to scan its cover image. I believe 50 copies were printed. In those days at readings, I often gave this little chap away. I was happy to do so.

Here's one poem from the collection that would later be accepted for publication in Interpoezia.  

authentick

 

in an aggressive urge to disappear

into mundane prosperity

your town now looks like all the other towns

and on thanksgiving day you drive your niece

to find deer along the old back roads

only to learn the fields of corn are now lawns

and the deer, like the lawn jockeys, are ceramic

 

what startles is your disappointment

you are gloomy and silent

in front of your innocent niece

and later as you watch your family sleep

away the excessive holiday meal

you suspect you’re not alone

doubting the audacity of change