JACO IN JAPAN

dressed to slay
smokes and drinks every note
as if the night was terminal

and her table never lacks
for attention

last call –
to the door with a devil on
her arm

at her apartment
she hits every note
in an epic air-jam

he sits on the edge
of an unmade bed
impatiently waiting
for the song to end

the next day
she heard he shaved his head
painted his face black

threw his bass
into Hiroshima Bay

 

_____

 

 

 

Cathy Porter’s poetry has appeared in Plainsongs, Chaffin Journal, Homestead Review, Kentucky Review (RIP), California Quarterly, Green Hills Literary Lantern, and various other journals. She has two chapbooks available from Finishing Line Press. Her latest chapbook, Exit Songs, was published in 2016 from Dancing Girl Press. She is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and is currently working on a full-length poetry collection. She lives in Omaha, NE.

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