Barking Murder
Elijah’s dog was barking murder
at the slammed back door
a black cat ran fast under a car and hid,
moonlight shade turned roses to velvet
his fingers working at skinny hips
to slip the leather belt off, buckle
shone like a dagger, sweat on his forehead
a sheen of waxed mahogany
his frame under the willow,
collarbones glistening, rib cage stuck
to a tight white wife-beater
and those dark eyes popping with angry fire,
like a Voodoo curse on a delta night
there came a hurtful woman hollering –
“You’a no good lyin’ sonofabitch!”
I saw a flash of white,
back door slamming a second time.
Elijah with the belt.
I heard the screams and cries,
the moon turned the willow a shade of pale
from where I stood in the window
shutting out the light, listening.
That poor woman in a darkened house
whimpering inside.
Pit bull by his side,
Elijah soaked with sweat beneath the streetlight
tenderly stroking the panting dog,
“It’s okay now boy…everything gonna be alright.”
I was born across the bridge from Boston, Massachusetts, in Cambridge, as July 4th fireworks exploded over the Charles River, just a stone’s throw from Harvard University. At age two, my family moved to Somerville, Ma.,where I was raised in a rough blue-collar environment, playing many sports. In 1998 I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, I work among special needs children and teach martial arts. Poetry began in high school, but took off in a more dedicated way in later years, along with resuming music studies, guitar. My poems are published in various anthologies; including Impressions, Prism, and the Mighty Voices Of Thunder Series, sponsored by the international poetry website, “Allpoetry.” I was a featured poet in Lyrical Somerville February 2015, a Boston based publication, as well as being an “Editor’s Front Page Pick,” for the month of March 2016 on Allpoetry. A defining moment that contributed significantly to further interest in writing was a First Place Award from the International Poetry Fellowship, for my poem, “Among Fields of Cotton.” Presently, I am happy to have the opportunity to explore various forms of poetry with Mr. Bruce Isaacson, Poet Laureate of Clark County Nevada.