1st Place Winner of the Poetry Contest: I Don’t Wonder - Erik Johnson

about the dinosaurs, or the wooly mammoths, or the dodo.

about the age of the earth,

all that came before,

things science can tell us but never actually prove.

if Jesus walked the earth.

if man created religion for power and control.

about one man’s need to dominate another,

one tribe’s desire to seize land,

to have more for themselves.

if God is sitting on a decadent throne

on a puffy white cloud

behind opulent golden gates,

watching

as we destroy

each other

  and ourselves.

if evil exists. It’s there if I look.

whether I care. I wish I didn’t, though.

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Erik Johnson is an emerging writer living with his husband and dog in New York City and taking courses at the Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute. He has written flash fiction, short stories, poetry, and a draft novel. He has been published in The Yard: Crime Blog and Half And One and has work in the Permanent Collection of Chateau D’Orquevaux International Artists and Writers. His writing crosses genres, often containing elements of grief, social justice, LGBTQ+ themes, and situations where light and dark meet in the human experience.

Erik's Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/j.erik.johnson/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerikjohnson/