No Good Decisions

A quarter of six, weather dimming

into lightning stroke, cloud-cracked moon

take a Sam Adams from the sixpack

a shot of Johnny Walker Red

take a twenty from the wallet

Lies happen here

Payoffs counted and tagged

envelopes addressed

Sister pays her debts to Montreal

running cards and dominoes

in a package store backroom

Lies happen here

Cocktail kiss, lunchtime fuck

trading indulgence for misfortune

a wife packs a separation suitcase

still hungry for a first happy marriage

she calls her special friend

Lies happen here

 

A Pushcart Prize nominee, R.T. Castleberry is an internationally published poet and critic. He was a co-founder of the Flying Dutchman Writers Troupe, co-editor/publisher of the poetry magazine Curbside Review, an assistant editor for Lily Poetry Review and Ardent. His work has appeared in The Alembic, Blue Collar Review, Misfit, Roanoke Review, Pacific Review, White Wall Review, Silk Road and Trajectory. His chapbook, Arriving At The Riverside, was published by Finishing Line Press in January, 2010. An e-book, Dialogue and Appetite, was published by Right Hand Pointing in May, 2011.