Yellow Mama Archives II

Rp Verlaine

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Acuff, Gale
Allen, R. A.
Alleyne, Chris
Andes, Tom
Arnold, Sandra
Baber, Bill
Baird, Meg
Baker, J. D.
Balaz, Joe
Barker, Adelaide
Barker, Tom
Barnett, Brian
Bartlett, Daniel C.
Bayly, Karen
Beckman, Paul
Berriozabal, Luis Cuauhtemoc
Beveridge, Robert
Blakey, James
Burke, Wayne F.
Campbell, J. J.
Cancel, Charlie
Capshaw, Ron
Carr, Steve
Centorbi, David Calogero
Christensen, Jan
Clifton, Gary
Cody, Bethany
Costello, Bruce
Coverly, Harris
Crist, Kenneth James
Cumming, Scott
Davie, Andrew
Davis, Michael D.
Degani, Gay
De Neve, M. A.
Dillon, John J.
Dorman, Roy
Doyle, John
Dunham, T. Fox
Ebel, Pamela
Fillion, Tom
Fortier, M. L.
Garnet, George
Graysol, Jacob
Grech, Amy
Greenberg, KJ Hannah
Grey, John
Hardin, Scott
Held, Shari
Hicks, Darryl
Hivner, Christopher
Hohmann, Kurt
Holtzman, Bernice
Jabaut, Mark
Jermin, Wayne
Jeschonek, Robert
Johns. Roger
Kanner, Mike
Kennedy, Cecilia
Keshigian, Michael
Kitcher, William
Kompany, James
Koperwas, Tom
Larsen, Ted R.
Le Due, Richard
Leotta, Joan
Lubaczewski, Paul
Lucas, Gregory E.
Luer, Ken
Lyon, Hillary
Mannone, John C.
Martinez, Richard
McConnell, Logan
McQuiston, Rick
Middleton, Bradford
Mladinic, Peter
Mobili, Juan
Mullins, Ian
Nielsen, Ayaz Daryl
Nielsen, Judith
Onken, Bernard
Owen, Deidre J.
Park, Jon
Parker, Becky
Pettus, Robert
Prusky, Steve
Reddick, Niles M.
Robson, Merrilee
Rollins, Janna
Rose, Brad
Rosmus, Cindy
Scharhag, Lauren
Schauber, Karen
Schmitt, Di
Short, John
Slota, Richelle Lee
Smith, Elena E.
Snethen, Daniel G.
Steven, Michael
Stoler, Cathi
Stoll, Don
Surkiewicz, Joe
Swartz, Justin
Taylor, J. M.
Temples. Phillip
Traverso Jr., Dionisio "Don"
Turner, Lamont A.
Tustin, John
Tyrer, DJ
Verlaine, Rp
Viola, Saira
Waldman, Dr. Mel
Weibezahl, Robert
Weil, Lester L.
White, Robb
Wilhide, Zachary
Williams, K. A.
Woods, Jonathan
Young, Mark
Zelvin, Elizabeth
Zimmerman, Thomas

Another New Year’s Encounter

 

by Rp Verlaine

 

Our lips meet by

accident in

a room with no doors

 

where strangers watch us 

grope through curses,

camouflaging want

with animal sounds

 

for nihilists, detached

as grave robbers,

eyes glowing in the dark

 

who watch until

leaving with

an emptiness filled

 

across a floor,

less a stage

than a prism asking for blood.

 

Our smiles, the lone hint

we’re enthralled being watched

by those who see nothing

 

deviates who

admire our sharp fingernails

on each other’s throats…

 

still seeking the distance

to somehow learn

how to let go.



Feeding The Voyeurs

 

by Rp Verlaine

 

She exhaled,

dying from boredom

money provided

in the dark void

drowning swimmers navigate.

 

Her open designer blouse

an invitation I’m sure

few resisted, beckoned  

as she whispered:

“take a closer look.”

 

With trouble in mind

her lips came forward

till I was aware of eyes

watching us, we laughed

and left them hungry.

 

Outside summer skies

all seemed like cotton

pale junkies inject from.

But while she talked

butterflies in me screamed.

 

Later I would miss

her shadow touching mine

and return to the bar

only to join those eyes

In the background watching.



The Indefinite Chance Machine

 

by Rp Verlaine

 

Like uncollected change,

the love she throws 

away in unnumbered

trysts with ghosts

of her past and

present become

the invisible game

of chance already

receding in

memory,

vanishing

from sight

with illusory

reveal in the

walking shadows

of lovers leaving

her bed and her

again lost 

as the change 

and dust under it.

 

 

 

Rp Verlaine, a retired English teacher living in New York City, has an MFA in creative writing from City College. He has several collections of poetry including Femme Fatales Movie Starlets & Rockers (2018) and Lies From The Autobiography 1-3 (2018-2020).




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