Benefits Of Escape by Rp Verlaine

Kicked to corner 

where she said 

I’d find company. 

 

I walk outside 

where the wind lies 

It’s fresh. 

 

The corner girls 

spin their stale tales 

that I’m next. 

 

I pass the bar 

three times then 

traipse in. 

 

One whiskey 

becomes  

five. 

Then I see 

tattoos too dark to read 

yet her smile says enough. 

 

Beckons me to lose 

for I gather quickly 

her victories are small. 

 

We leave seeking 

a temporary respite 

letting stars kiss our wounds. 

 

With only the moon 

truly golden 

over a pawnshop. 

 

Where in the morning 

I’ll sell my watch to buy 

more time with her. 

Rp Verlaine lives and writes in New York City. He has an MFA in creative writing from City College and taught English in New York public schools until he retired. He has several collections of poetry including Damaged by Dames & Drinking (2017), Femme Fatales Movie Starlets & Rockers (2018), and Lies From The Autobiography 1-3 (2018-2020).