Driving into a storm graying
a cloud-mottled sky,
mist climbs the building towers,
umbrellas shudder below.
A broken water line arcs an icy sidewalk,
stoplights fail, freezing the intersections.
The side street crosswalk cop spins and whistles,
pauses cars as he passes the ladies on.
Buses bounce a pothole lane,
side panels milky with engine-melted ice.
Street breezes worry chained gates,
customers hold on coffee cups.
Lazy rolling, as waves to shore,
trench coat crowds scale steps
from street to office,
surrender to foyer swarm,
over-heated meeting rooms.
Lunches will deliver late,
take-out boxes stacked at security,
waiting for debit card scribble.
Each window weather check
will merit another vow to relocate,
an island vacation request.
The high rise glass mirrors
whorls of exhaust clouds, steam rise,
the startled, darting flight of blackbirds.
A scarf skates the pebbled plaza,
winds its length on a wire-legged chair.
A bank clock flashes: 9:30,
temperature holding cold until May.
R.T. Castleberry’s work has appeared in Comstock Review, Green Mountains Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, The Alembic, Pacific Review, RiverSedge and Caveat Lector, among other journals. I am 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 My work has been featured in the anthologies Travois-An Anthology of Texas Poetry, TimeSlice and The Weight of Addition. My 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.