John Ramm (appearing at Eunoia Review and at Writing Raw)

When first domesticated, John was given

A power tie and a mug with antlers

He was informed about corporate life

Now he paces in the offices

Snorting and bucking, attempting to climb

The heights are sheer

This is what his hooves are made for

They talk about him at the water cooler.

The Ballad of John Ramm (appearing on VerseWrights)

Munching twigs, scenting

the air, hidden in a thicket

of leaves, brambles, thorns,

agile feet take him to flight

but not soon enough

Hailing a cab, trying to make

his way to work, he remembers

distantly what it was like to be

in the wild, but that was so long

ago, it seems like a different

animal lived then

While others preen, he pummels

While others rant, he rams.

Legend of John Ramm (appearing on Squawk Back)

Not sure why he spells his name

with two m's sometimes. Maybe

it's just been that long.

You can tell by the way he sniffs

the day, it's not all good here. He

wants you to think it is. We all do.

How are you, I'm fine. Do they

even give you time to answer? I

sit across, study his antlers, want

to set him free. But his handlers

just won't let me.

Like Ramms at Play (appearing on Venus in Scorpio)

He was a creature of the forest,

at work and at play,

then forced into an office.

But all that has been said before.

Now the family

must manage the remains,

decide if they will return

to the forest glen, scamper

and rut, or make the continual

business climb.

John Ramm's Retirement Party (appearing on Poems and Poetry Blog)

This poem is for the recently departed

Mr. John Ramm, a dedicated co-worker

who was found one day grazing in a field,

and who now exists in the halls of this

great company’s memory, a horned figure

once stuffed into a business suit, now

mounted upon the wide victory wall.

 

JD DeHart