John Helzer was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and is a graduate of Yale University. He lives in Colorado near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. He is currently visiting the Somerville area.

The Moonshine Veil

One by one they come to me

On filaments strung through the trees

Where owls reign

And darkness rubs itself

Against the leaves

And what to this do I bequeath

The moonshine veil I lie beneath?

I cracked my window

So my dreams could breathe

I broke my heart and swept each piece

And this is when they came to me

They shine like just-spent coins

Their edges rough with reeds

Briefly pawned and then restored

Hoarded and redeemed

Placed just beyond redemption

Placed far beyond my reach

And what to this did I bequeath

The moonshine veil I lie beneath?

They fade like coins spent long ago

Of greater value than their spenders know

Collected in a silver wheelbarrow

Pushed gently down the road

And then the branches splay

To show how I had lost my way

And why I had become a thief

How I could lie but never cheat

And what to this do I bequeath?

The timid rays of new belief

– John Helzer

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