The Seventh Veil

Nulty Lynch

Practiced looks of boredom,

learned in junior high, mastered

in the bars and frat parties of college,

are the direct lineage of Salome.

Looking sexy with her seven veils

and her unreasonable demands.

“Bring me the head of John the Baptist!”

Where is her Herod? Is it her

stepfather, or the boy she met at happy hour

on the other end of her indifferent

phone, wondering why he’s late.

Former Ballet Dancer Waiting for the 8:10 Vermonter to Burlington

Nulty Lynch

One arm akimbo,

the other holds your weight.

(What weight there is,

such a skinny, curvy thing.)

Back bare and arched,

hair cut short, to lengthen the

line you’ve created.

Not even consciously aware.

You probably think you’re stretching.

But you only pretend to not

notice every man peek your way.

Attempting your best hipster irony.

Hoping someone will notice.

Praying they don’t.

Nulty Lynch is a husband, father, poet and fly-fisherman. Not usually all at once, or in that order. He lives in Laurel, Maryland with his wife, two daughters and two dogs. He works for a financial research bureau in Washington D.C. and spends his train commute writing & staring out the window. He has most recently been published in Shoots and Vines and Modern English Tanka, and will be published in an upcoming issue of The Stray Branch.