beer-craving zombie

Bradford Middleton: Beer-Craving Zombie

BEER-CRAVING ZOMBIE

by Bradford Middleton

As the clock counted down at work, typical

Of my luck of late it was the first day we

Stay open late, I stood counting the seconds

Until I could get out because tonight wasn’t

Going to be just another night of smoke and

Losing myself in some soap opera. It was

Going to be the night I had grown desperate

For during the whole prolonged nightmare

Of drinking out on the pavement battling all

That goddamn wind and rain, hence only

Venturing out a couple of times but trust me

There was almost temptation every single

One of those days counting . . .

Counting . . .

Until that moment when they’d let us back

Inside and tonight, well tonight, was that

Night and almost instantly, upon walking

Back through that hallowed door I felt myself

Grow calm and like a King returning to take

Up his throne. I found an empty table looking

Out on the street of ill-repute and as my drinks

Came over I saw her. One for the age

A green-haired creature of dizzying size and

Shape, and suddenly I was back living the life

Of the bars’ living dead.

Bradford Middleton lives in Brighton on the UK’s southeast coast. He was born in London during the long hot summer of 1971 and growing up on a council estate and attending the local school, he learnt two things; if he didn’t kick back he’d never get anywhere in this life, merely becoming another cog in the wheel, and has been kicking against those pricks his entire life. He began writing when he arrived in Brighton in the early years of the new century and began reading his poems to often stunned and confused onlookers until one day Mad Swirl asked to publish one of his poems. He’s had four chapbooks published since then and has hundreds of poems dotted all over the internet. His work has featured in the Chiron Review, Evening Street Review, New Reader Magazine, Paper & Ink Lit Zine, Horror Sleaze Trash, and Razur Cuts, amongst other places including, of course, Yellow Mama. Follow him on Twitter @BradfordMiddle5.

Bernice Holtzman’s paintings and collages have appeared in shows at various venues in Manhattan, including the Back Fence in Greenwich Village, the Producer’s Club, the Black Door Gallery on W. 26^th St., and one other place she can’t remember, but it was in a basement, and she was well received.