Fishermen

by RP Verlaine

He came home
with three large trout
a better man than I.

Who had nothing to show
for three hours at the topless bar
but empty pockets.

Both of us smiling
having had a good day
we‵d both been lucky.

He in the last hour
having caught two of the three
now cooking in grill.

And I with the blonde
who pressed me so close
I forgot how to breathe.

Who danced with sin
having taken hold of her hips
while renting her smile.

‟Be careful with the bones‶
he said as we ate
‟they can do real damage.‶

‟Women do much worse‶
I said thinking of her lips
grazing mine so often.

I thought she meant it
but now I know what bait is
just like the fishermen.

As the tomcats outside
fight over scraps until
the winner eats alone.

I think of the dancer
exhaling cigarette smoke
saying she was lonely.

Lies a man believes
when he’s fishing for something
that long ago got away.

Rp Verlaine lives in New York City. He has an MFA in creative writing from City College. He taught in the New York Public schools for many years.
His first volume of poetry, Damaged by Dames & Drinking, was published in 2017 and another, Femme Fatales, Movie Starlets & Rockers, in 2018. A set of three e-books titled Lies From the Autobiography vol 1-3 were published from2018 to 2020. His newest book, Imagined Indecencies, was published in February of 2022.

Cindy Rosmus originally hails from the Ironbound section of Newark, NJ, once voted the “unfriendliest city on the planet.” She talks like Anybodys from West Side Story and everybody from Saturday Night Fever. Her noir/horror/bizarro stories have been published in the coolest places, such as Shotgun Honey; Megazine; Dark Dossier; The Rye Whiskey Review, Under the Boardwalk, and Rock and a Hard Place. She is the editor/art director of Yellow Mama and the art director of Black Petals. She’s published seven collections of short stories. Cindy is a Gemini, a Christian, and an animal rights advocate. She has recently branched out into photo illustration, under the guidance and mentoring of Ann Marie Rhiel.