The Old Blind Guitarist

Anton Pooles


based on the Picasso painting of the same name


He plays as the green clouds fill the sky.
He plays as bullfrogs welcome the night with song.
He plays as drunk men return home from the bar
after a hard day’s work.

Each string feels like barbed wire,
each note like a thunderstorm far out at sea. 

He plays through the evening,
through the stinging pain of his fingers and back.
He plays even as he drifts off to sleep.



Anton Pooles was born in Novosibirsk, Siberia and lives in Toronto. He is a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Toronto and the author of the chapbook Monster 36 (Anstruther Press, 2019). Follow him on Twitter @antonpooles.