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.
