Film Noir. by Jonathan K. Rice

The women,

sleek blondes

with dark full lips

smoke

cigarettes

in dingy rooms

or extravagant

nightclubs.

They meet

dashing men

in tuxedos

or dusty

rough drifters,

looking

to sweep

them

off their feet,

make love

to them

before

breaking

their hearts.

Scenes fade in

and out.

There’s always

smoke,

always a cigarette.

Jonathan K. Rice edited Iodine Poetry Journal for seventeen years. He is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Killing Time (2015), Ukulele and Other Poems (2006) and a chapbook, Shooting Pool with a Cellist (2003), all published by Main Street Rag Publishing. He is also a visual artist. His poetry and art have appeared in numerous publications, including Diaphanous, Empty Mirror, Eunoia Review, Gargoyle, Harbor Review

Magazine, Inflectionist Review, Mad Swirl, The Main Street Rag, Plum Tree Tavern, Redheaded Stepchild, South Florida Poetry Journal, Wild Goose Poetry Review and the anthologies, Hand in Hand: Poets Respond to Race and The Southern Poetry Anthology VII: North Carolina. Poetry is forthcoming in As It Ought To Be, First Literary Review-East and San Pedro River Review.