Barking Murder by Bruce Michael Foley

cat

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.”

indexI 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.

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