Where Do We Go from Here?

By Derrick J. Johnson

“And Leaves Shall Fall, And Orchids Will Wither … But Is That All?”

Written during his teenage years (1988-1999), Where Do We Go From Here? expands upon the emotional depths explored in Derrick J. Johnson’s 2001 debut, The Awakening of the Dreamer, while breaking new creative ground as well. This book features four distinctly themed collections of poems. Carnival is a light-hearted journey through the circus of life, which features poems such as “Holy Water” and “Harlequin.” The second collection, Heroes is themed around the concept of heroism and includes highlights like “Superman is Dead” and “JFK.” The overall tone shifts with the next collection, Grey, which focuses on the areas of light and dark within human nature. Highlights of this collection include “And Orchids Will Wither,” and “Road Kill.” The final collection, Acid, deals with the emotions that build up inside and destroy us from within. It features poems such as “Running Water” and the epic poem, “The Tides of Time.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665538190

Derrick J. Johnson

DERRICK JUSTIN JOHNSON is an award-winning writer and director, best known for his films, On Borrowed Time, Victim and Clean Up on Aisle Nine. Johnson is a native of Ocala, Florida and currently resides in North Miami Beach. He is also a practicing attorney in the South Florida area as well as a writer with over twenty years of experience as a novelist, screenplay writer, poet, and columnist (most notably, as the last columnist to helm the legendary A View from the Bricks column from the University of Miami School of Law’s newspaper, Res Ispa Loquitur). Where Do We Go From Here? is the follow-up to Johnson’s 2001 book of poetry, The Awakening of the Dreamer. This is Johnson’s second complete book of published poetry.

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© 2021 Derrick J. Johnson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/14/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-3802-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-3819-0 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Where Do We Go From Here is my sophomore effort as an author and it represents a literary trek into an unknown territory. Although my work represents a labor of love, I could not say that I didn’t have help from other people during that time. Therefore this book is dedicated to my mother, father, Angelique A. Johnson, John Kevin King, Jr., Joseph A. King, Professor Debra A. King, Michael Eisenberg, Alice Eisenberg, Paul Lurie, Dr. Lawrence Morehouse, Anthony Ekonomides, Nicholas Ekonomides, Charles Shanberg, R. Brandon Wagner, Jason Wood, Margaret D. Mathews, William Pammer, John F. Rudy II, Susan Lawson, Kenneth Turkel, Kami U. Lawson, Adam Locasio, Matthew Bishop, Debbie Gilbert, Bryant Fayson II, Tennille Vega, Jessica Pawelkop and of course, God almighty.

                                                  Derrick Justin Johnson

                                                  1999

Contents

CARNIVAL

Into the Heart

The Greatest Show On Earth

Evergreen

Holy Water

The Taming of the Coyote

The Cameo Romeo

The House of Mirrors

The Ancient Time Traveler

A Sip from a Shirley Temple

B.M.O.C.

The Cavalier

Name

Dreams for Boys

Tunnel of Love

The Fortress

Cupid’s Arrow

Conquistador

Caffeine Free

Wuss

Christmas Without You

Elephant Man

The Hitchhiker II: Roam

Gypsy Lady

Home Again

Harlequin

HEROES

Behind the Mask

Superman is Dead

Revolution (Turn it Around Again)

The Distance

Faith

Keep the Man Down

The Wicked

Tomorrow

Undone

Paradise

Twelve Angry Men

Above the Brim

Rapture

Against

Angelus

Cultivation

Starvation

Adamantium Rage

Calculations

Sea of Love

The Cage

A Better Man

A Sort of Farewell

JFK

The Homecoming

GREY

Choice

Soar

Oasis

Master Slave

Road Kill

Mysterious

Jessica

Bleed

Intolerance

Grey

Visions of the White Rose

Him

A Dollar Short

Black Widow

Holocaust

Deeper Love

In the Eyes of A Child

Beautiful

Still Believe

Sunshine

Philadelphia Cream Dreams

Leaving

Conversations Kill

The Hitchhiker III: All Roads Leads to You

And Orchids Will Wither...

ACID

Running Water

Blur

Galaxy

And God Created Woman

The Eyes of Doubt

The Urge

Nemesis

The Hunger

Stepchild

The Downward Spiral

Animal

Plastic Dolls

Status Quo

Imagine What

Man Of War

Show Me

tWo

Dehumanized

Run

Rubber band

Relevance

Primogeniture

Domino Man

Under Nefertiti’s Scepter

Low Expectations

Primal Scream

The Search for the Iron Butterfly

Human Touch

On Gabriel’s Wings

The Children of the Sun

The Girl on the Third Floor

The Tides of Time

The Hitchhiker IV: Paths Not Taken

It’s My World

EPILOGUE

Admonition

CARNIVAL

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Into the Heart

Into the heart

Of a boy,

We will search

For joy.

Into the eyes

Of a girl,

Lies the beauty,

Of another world.

Into the rhythm

Of the night,

I know everything

Will be alright.

Into the beat

Of a song,

There is a place,

A place where I belong…

The Greatest Show On Earth

Hurry! Hurry!

Step right up,

Eat your popcorn,

And throw away your cup.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Is about to start

It’s a magnificent and magical spectacle,

That will steal your heart.

We have a delightful Ferris wheel,

Which is constantly on a turn,

A tunnel of love and a fortress,

Which shall soon burn.

We have a house of mirrors,

With an old time traveler on top.

We have a harlequin, a cavalier,

And a foolish coyote who won’t stop.

We have a gypsy lady, a conquistador,

And a hideous elephant man with dimples.

We have a hitchhiker, boys with dreams,

And a drink named after a