BY JOHN GREY
Copyright is held by the author.
Quarters sit on the table edge
like sparkling dares.
A pitcher of beer
rests on the mantle
above the unlit fireplace:
a gift deferred.
Jukebox is playing
the usual country fare
and the occasional
rockabilly B side.
Three guys lean on cue-sticks.
A fourth smothers the velvet tip
in chalk.
Balls form their familiar triangle.
Holes await feeding
like the mouths of eagle babies.
Game’s got nothing better to do
than begin.
***
John Grey is an Australian poet, U.S. resident, recently published in New World Writing, California Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, Between Two Fires, Covert and Memory Outside The Head are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Isotrope Literary Journal, Seventh Quarry, La Presa and Doubly Mad.
