Two Hoppers

the actor is               an ashy colored        hangover narrow
face and           sunglasses      they          are here on
this street              corner for          the perfection           of
morning           light captured           on canvas        the
subject sneaks       a swig from             his hip          flask
expresses his       gratitude          looking           up at
a sky         too clear         and pure for              the likes
of him       an alley          cat knocks over          cans
-orange blur-            but            a more suitable
symbol       the painter is              meticulous              in light
brushstrokes convey             feelings             loneliness
isolation           American           spiritual           starvation

(previously published in Mandrake Poetry Review)




---

Taking the Stud Home

Katherine wears fox
-not mink-
buys a fifth round for herself

and Mr. Half-Her-Age.
She looks ten years younger
in barroom darkness.

Later in her dim kitchen
they drink gin
and talk about her dead

husband -keep their voices down,
so not to wake her boy
upstairs.

Katherine, call-me-Kate,
says she answers phones
in an office;

sucks a little more gin,
eyes his body,
slides a hand along his shoulder-

firm 21 years old,
aches to wrap herself
in his smooth skin.

her hand-
shadows of pain,
time measured in wrinkles-

feels his bone and muscle;
warm, so warm.
She is too thin.

Frail months
without appetite
and now real hunger

pangs near her heart.
Kate fears her ghost
husband watches,

neck bent in shame.
Another gin, more
conversation,

mild laughter,
forget the dead
judgment.

She knows he thinks
he's a stud
to seduce her

-doesn't matter-
inside she nods to her
needs.

Bottle finished,
chairs skid linoleum,
hand takes hand,

stagger the stairs
to fight the empty bed
for a night.

(previously published in Main Street Rag)



---

photo courtesy CJ Sage

• Editor-in-Chief,
Disquieting Muses
• Host of FM91.5, KKUP's
"Out of Our Minds"

     Dancing Bear lives in the San Francisco bay area. His poems, art interviews, reviews and photographs have been published in many journals, including New York Quarterly, Zuzu's Petals Quarterly, Slipstream, Rio Grande Review, Pearl, Poetry Motel and Nerve Cowboy. He is Editor-In-Chief of the on-line magazine Disquieting Muses (disquietingmuses.com) and the 1999 winner of the Mindfire Chapbook Contest for his manuscript Blue Hand, later this year a chapbook Atlas(Red Fruit Press) will be released. Dancing Bear is the host of a weekly poetry show "Out of Our Minds" for public supported KKUP 91.5 FM in Cupertino, CA.

Mitakuye oyasin (All my relations),
Dancing Bear