don winter | lonesome town

Lonesome Town

“Andy stole my cherry
on a toothpick
& swallowed it whole,”
she sd. I was out
of the army a couple weeks,
madly in lust. “Now Andy’s gone,
no one can say where,
otherwise I wouldn’t be dancing
in this shithole.” She smelled
like a dogpound in August, but
she had a wad of bills
the size of a sandwich. Had a snake
tattooed around her ankle,
pierced nipple & that edgy, unreachable
disinterest I couldn’t
get enough of.

Two hundred for the night, two bones
from her dealer later, we jumped
into a Checker cab.
Back in my room,
The dope dropped my head
Like a tulip.
She cleaned me out.
“Ants,” she sd.
next day at the club,
“people are ants,”
lifted her feet & stomped
them down. Next morning, I started begging
my way back to my folk’s house
in Bumfuck, USA.

Don Winter about Don Winter

I went from being owner of Southeast Real Estate to poverty after a 1998 divorce. I’ve since taken up the poem, with acceptances from 5 AM, New York Quarterly, Bogg, Slipstream, Pearl, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Passages North, Southern Poetry Review, London Magazine, Sycamore Review, and close to 500 other journals in the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Australia. My work has been nominated for twelve Pushcarts. I am co-founder and co-editor of the journal of literature and art Fight These Bastards.

Don Winter’s web page is here… and here are some other Don Winter publications. Just click on any of the links below.

slipstreampress | thebawdycloister | unlikelystories| laura hird | wordriot | broadsidepress

“Selling for ten bucks, this book is a steal. Some of the best poetry I’ve read in a while.” Todd Moore

“This is the real American poetry. Don Winter is one of the few poets I can honestly say I take joy in reading. This collection deserves a serious read.” Gary Goude

“Your chapbook was excellent. All poems right on target! Great work as always from a top poet.” Ed Galing

“I don’t know any other poet who could get away with duct tape covering staples for the binding and no heavy-duty cover. But after reading the content, I must say you pull it off—to my delight. It totally fits with the rawness and everyday, working man appeal of the poems. Bravo, Don.” Ellaraine Lockie

“I have read the heavies and you match up. It is a good thing to know and appreciate an American master during his time.” Troy Schoultz

NO WAY OUT BUT IN

To purchase NO WAY OUT BUT IN from New York Quarterly’s on-line store, go here please… Or, send $10 in check, money order, or well-concealed cash to:

Working Stiff Press (payable to Dan Sheridan) P.O. Box 1274, Niles, Michigan 49120

0 Replies to “don winter | lonesome town”

  1. Don Winter’s poetry reads like a mix of John Steinbeck and David Goodis. The dope dropped my head/Like a tulip — what a line.

  2. “The dope dropped my head like a tulip.” Man, these are among the best two lines I’ve read in a long time.

    Todd Moore

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