November 1, 2014

notes on the Ceratiidae (warty sea devils) for Chinaski...

photo by Richard Ambrose/ Sally Gould ©

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notes on the Ceratiidae (warty sea devils) 
for Chinaski


Henry, bourbon before breakfast
might be your brace before wine
like grace before tine at the feast
I, however, am going to at least
pretend to still be elegant
and drink some tea
while fitting into the skin
of a dirty old man

who I am despite
eternal immaturity
doesn't show the tease
of my unkempt appearances
circumstances dictate
environmentalisms of poems

such as this one
mid forties woman
with an ass bigger than
it might have been twenty years ago
she was casually playing with her hair
pretending to take stock
in the furnishings
and bric-a-brac
at ye old twenty four hour
corner cafe and rathskellar
that I happen to haunt myself in

there was a dry cleaners next door
I imagined she was waiting
for some finery/ maybe she would
just let me sniff the sleeves
I smile when she looks
fish hooked furtive
casting glances my way
I watch her turn quickly
pretending to catch hold
of something remembered
almost daring me to chase her
into the unknowns
of her something else

who knows what her poem
may be Henry
anglerfish bioluminescence
for all I know
maybe she plays the silk rope
and bedpost gambles
desperate dimorphism
maybe she more than likes
hiking hemlines
highlighting spot cleans
in the dark seedy parts
of any under-bellied town
maybe she peruses to leave bruises
where men’s hearts, souls
and cocks used to be

EJR ©