Zephyr Row by Jim Heavily

The tearing of flesh as

Unadorned barmaids calmly

Slide about the sanguine barroom

Steins of beer & whiskey bottles

Imperturbably poised

On placid salvers held high

Over their heads, an action

Which only serves to accent

The graceful lines of their sex.

Leather vests, muddied chaps & dusters

Are slowly scarified. The sheriff

Plays cards at a corner table

With the Hierophant & Temperance

As malefic maelstrom swings

Madly about the remote setting.

Of course the orgiastic clash of cultures

Takes place in a bar as you raise

A glass of aged rum to the setting

Sun & dream & hope for change

From the c-note you just dropped

On the bar for that last round of drinks

In the hottest joint in Georgetown.

You and All of Us - Hoots and Hellmouth

Jim Heavily's most recent poems, "Almuerzo en San Miguel" & "Vezelay," have been published in The Salt River Review. He works as a warehouseman and lives near Rolesville, North Carolina.

Photo by Adam Lawrence.
Street artist unknown.

Hoots and Hellmouth, down home Southern knee tapping via Philadelphia.