The Mauler

by Harris Coverley

He took off his glasses

And then pulled off his jumper in one quick move

Along with his T-shirt

And he showed me his chest tattoo:

ANCOAT LADS

1993

In dull ink

Between sagging pectorals

Fair and greying skin stretched across a withering frame

With a few threads of muscle left for show

“I’ll never stop crimin’ me,”

He told me

“I’ve made too much money from it for me to stop now!”

I roughly calculated his net profit in my head:

About £5.32

Plus thirteen years inside

He pulled his top back on

And replaced his glasses

Cheap but modern

A gift from Her Majesty

“So boy, if you see this face, you’d better start runnin’!”

He tapped on the bars with his knuckles

And then against his chest

(They almost made the same sound)

He opened his mouth to stretch his jaw

Revealing a throng of brown-capped stubs

I decided to take his advice

And knocked on the steel door

To have the guard let me out

It had been an interesting interview

Not a good one

But an interesting one.

Along with previously in Yellow Mama, Harris Coverley has verse published or forthcoming in Polu Texni, California Quarterly, Star*Line, Corvus Review, Tales from the Moonlit Path, Danse Macabre, Once Upon a Crocodile, The Rye Whiskey Review, 5-7-5 Haiku Journal, and many others. He lives in Manchester, England.

Ann Marie Rhiel is the Assistant Art Director for Yellow Mama Webzine. She was born and raised in Bronx, New York, presently living in New Jersey. She reconnected with her passion for art in 2016 and has had her work exhibited in art galleries around northern New Jersey ever since. She is a commissioned painting artist, who also enjoys photography. Her work has also appeared in Black Petals and Megazine Official.