RC deWinter
lost in a
bottle of jack i
never saw
the first night
the sun never set. when i
sobered up the street
was full of
everyone, waving
their arms and
talking a
mile a minute, kids crying,
the saintly ranting
the end of
the world while dogs barked
in three-part
harmony
and far-off sirens wailed in
their useless distress.
i hadn’t
lived expecting to
witness the
end of the
world, a balloon melting in
the judas kiss of
gold, that false
god people chased with
no thought of
betrayal.
i laughed and left the lost to
their madness, knowing
i had that
half-full bottle to
carry me
over the
the threshold of sentience
into the puddle.
counting the
coins in my pouch, i
grinned as the
silver, a
a glittering snake, smiled back.
eyes closed, i waited.
***
RC deWinter’s poetry is anthologized in New York City Haiku (NY Times, 2017), Uno: A Poetry Anthology (Verian Thomas, 2002), Cowboys & Cocktails: Poetry from the True Grit Saloon (Brick Street Poetry, April 2019) in print in 2River View, Down in the Dirt, Genre Urban Arts, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, Pink Panther Magazine, The New York Times and in numerous online literary journals.