r i g h t  h a n d  p o i n t i n g

short fiction  short poetry  short commentary  short..uh..art

 

 

     
  Be Still and Know

 David Deborde
 

 
A man down the street committed suicide
in a final, leaden moment of intimacy—a .44 caliber kiss.
Thirty-three lonely years and he still didn’t know. 

Barefoot boys and giggling girls
still hear the same  golden lies:
you’ll find true love
you can be anything. 

Still,
occasional moments cause a tired housewife joy,
the winning lottery ticket
scratched while chatting to a friendly gas station clerk.
She and her husband
just celebrated their tin anniversary;
his gift to himself a box of bullets.
The only thing they built
together was equity.

 

  

David Deborde has taught at West Virginia State University and is currently teaching English at Greenup County High School.  His writings have appeared or are forthcoming in The Roanoke Review, The Pacific Review, Et Cetera, Bathtub Gin, Harpur Palate, and The Encyclopedia of Ethnic American Literature.  He has a chapbook, godspeople, coming soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All rights reserved. All poems, fiction, articles, essays, and artwork are the property of the authors and artists within, and as such, are protected by applicable U.S. and international copyright law. Copying or reprinting in any form is prohibited without the expressed permission of the author or artist.