Those Who Host and Those Who Guest by DM O’Connor

Those Who Host and Those Who Guest

DM O'Connor

Sit down
weary traveler
you must be
exhausted

half the world
is no light trot.
Tea served
with two hands

bowed head, sip still,
listen to the ones
who do not feel
the demand to move…

Hopes roll
as steam rises off
the proffered hand-towels
upon departure

dreams are poured
to quench
the appetite for others
and generous ceremony.


About the Author

DM O’Connor is from a small village on Lake Huron. After many nomadic years, he is based in Albuquerque, where a short story collection progresses. He contributes monthly to The Review Review and NewPages. His writing has appeared in Barcelona Metropolitan, Collective Exiles, Across the Margin, Headland, Cecile’s Writers, Bohemia, Beechwood, Fiction, After the Pause, The Great American Lit Mag (Pushcart nomination), The New Quarterly, Lowestoft Chronicle, and The Guardian. He is Fiction Editor of The Blue Mesa Review. Tweet: @dmoconnorwrites