THE ESSAY

Sometime ago now I
read an article by some
guy who had claimed
he had investigated
and researched the
military career of
William Wantling
and he concluded
that the account given
by the poet was
untrue and that
Wantling was a liar:
so fucking what!
truth is always
good
but bullshit
makes things
interesting.

PARIS RED-LIGHT

She looked shy and awkward
and a little scared and she
stood-out amongst the
street-workers, not because
of these vulnerabilities but
truth of her beauty: I found
her mesmerising and she
noticed me looking at her
and she cast a sultry fake
smile and began moving
slowly towards me and
when just a few yards away
she spoke in a tongue I
didn’t understand; I
remained silent, still,
captured with her and
when eye contact was made,
I gazed downwards; she
stopped and spat cursed
words at me and then
walked away; no older
than my 17 years,
moments later a black
limo pulled up along-
side the curb and she
climbed in, smiling and
laughing, never giving a
glance back.

QUATRO BAR, PRAGUE

The service was slow,
the couple tending the
bar were young and
hot for each other and
they’d touch and
grope each other at
every opportunity; I
drank a couple of beers
watching the show,
they were keen for
sure; the t.v. above
the bar alternated
between world news
and pornography; us
7 or 8 patrons
looked on silently
between the screen
and the live-action
behind the bar; I broke
into the youthful
romance and ordered
a large vodka
swollen with ice and
watched as he poured
the measure into a glass
as she cupped his
crotch and smiled,
happy in her work.

HER EYES

The fluidity of language
softens and crumples
like brittle cardboard,
the tongue is still,
silent as a panther,
the moment poised
like a small bird
in the face of an
imminent hurricane.

John D Robinson was born in 63 in the UK; his poems have appeared widely in the small press and online literary journals including; Rusty Truck; Red Fez; Hobo Camp Review; Rats Ass Review; Down In The Dirt; Yellow Mama; Outsider Poetry; Chicago Record; Horror Sleaze and Trash; BoySlut; In Between Hangovers; He is a contributing poet to the 2016, 48th Street Press Broadside Series.