an exclusive 60 minute interview
by john compton


an exclusive 60 minute interview

it is dark but the branch slides down the window in such a creepy way
i almost run from the room—and i know it is a tree

but it sends shivers with how meticulous it moves, its leaves licking the glass,
and i imagine it being on a documentary about how it had broken into my house

and killed me, and it's just smiling at the interviewer
with no remorse, only saddened because it was cut down and apprehended.





john compton (b. 1987), author of 18 books/chapbooks, is a gay poet who lives in kentucky with his husband josh, alongside dogs, cats, & mice. his previous full length book is "my husband holds my hand because i may drift away & be lost forever in the vortex of a crowded store" published with Flowersong Press (dec 2024); his newest full length book is "house as a cemetery" published with Rebel Satori Press (mar 2026). you can find his books, some poems, and other things here