Johns' poetry began to attract attention around 1912. He also became interested in leftist politics around this time. Johns moved to New York City, where he resided on and off for the next ten years. He occasionally made trips back to St. Louis to visit his father and wrote some of his best works while in the city. Johns won a poetry contest in 1912 hosted by The Lyric Year, despite competing against Edna St. Vincent Millay's famed "Renascence", a victory he felt was misjudged.