Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Fishing

Fishing

Hector stands on the water,
thinking of Carmella,
who never quite came back.

She could pick a strawberry like
Segovia fixing harmonics.
She loved him, but only once.

He arrives at the pier,
ties his board to a piling and
climbs to his favorite table.

Carmella brings him a smile in
the shape of a rhombus,
a chowder that verges on majesty.

She says, Ask the question.
He says, Ever?
She says, No. Never.

Hector thinks back a tear.
Why do you do this?

She sets her hands on
his java shoulders.

On a night when the
moon was one-third gone,
three men took my youth.
My only sweetness is
telling you no.

He traces the outline of her
blood-red lips. In that case,
I will take the chowder.

The rhombus widens to
one third of a moon.

A pelican bombs the harbor,
comes up empty.                                                            
Hector says,                                                                               
Yes, I know.


Notes: Thanks to Skidrow Penthouse, my current favorite literary journal, for printing this.

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