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Smoke and Mirrors

       

                                       

Those local men

still going outside 

for cigarettes keep

this little town’s

dive bars alive. 

And of course 

the unemployed 

women who 

love them.

You know

exactly the kind 

of people I mean. 

I know you do.

Between beers 

the couples dancing

watch themselves 

fall into each other

in slow motion

to jukebox favorites.

Everyone’s well aware

another Saturday night

will likely 

result in another 

parking lot crime scene.

They wouldn’t miss it

for the world.

Neon signs flicker 

in the dark.

Flicker and hum.

 

 

Brian Beatty is the author of five poetry collections and a spoken word album. His small Hurley stories have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Airgonaut, Alien Buddha Zine, The Blue Mountain Review, Chautauqua Journal, Cholla Needles, Cowboy Jamboree, The Drabble, Hoosier Noir, Hoot, Microfiction Monday Magazine, The Museum of Americana, Paragraph Planet, SoFloPoJo and The Whisky Blot

 

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