
Yellow Mama E zine
Issue #118
October 15th, 2026
Inside This Head: Poem by John Grey

Art by Bernice Holtzman © 2026
INSIDE THIS HEAD
by John Grey
Inside this head
lurk actions untaken,
thought out carefully
but paused at the moment
the hands come into play.
Someday, someday . . .
My plans are ready.
They play out in the dark
of my imagination.
So much violence,
so much blood,
and yet my meekness remains
my byword.
Even when I’m at a low point.
Even when the cruelty of others
curdles my self-esteem.
Even when the multitudes
walk all over me.
My response simmers.
My revenge rumbles within.
For the script is written.
The role of monster is cast.
I know my lines.
I’m inured with the stage directions.
Someday, someday . . .
I would take care if I were you.
I’d not underestimate
even the most docile of your fellow men.
The outside may be dimly lit
but the inside is a furnace.
Many heads in the world
are like this.
John Grey is an Australian poet, U.S. resident, recently published in Midnight Mind, Willow Review, and the Pennsylvania Literary Journal. Latest books, Bittersweet, Subject Matters, and Between Two Fires, are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in the MacGuffin, Touchstone, and Willow Review.
Bernice Holtzman’s paintings and collages have appeared in shows at various venues in Manhattan, including the Back Fence in Greenwich Village, the Producer’s Club, the Black Door Gallery on W. 26th St., and one other place she can’t remember, but it was in a basement, and she was well received. She is the Assistant Art Director for Yellow Mama.