Stole My Coat Blues by R.T. Castleberry

STOLE MY COAT BLUES

Hands on hips, 
I stretch legs to scrape 
gutter mud from new ropers.
Feeder and offramp back my house.
The sea-sound rush cascades the backyard.
A wheelchair vet nests at the front
blocking the turn lane,
begging in danger for change.
Storm clouds settle to the south,
thunder’s roll an anxiety I accept.
The clock runs out like
train cars down a bayou track,
brother’s sneak through window and wallet.
Nothing remains past 
scraps of spite, a cursing conversation.
I finish a cigarette, step to the patio,
flip it arcing, sparking into the grass.

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R.T. Castleberry’s work has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, Pedestal Magazine, Misfit, Trajectory, The Alembic and Switchback. Internationally, he’s been published in Canada, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Portugal. the Philippines and Antarctica. His poetry has appeared in the anthologies: Travois-An Anthology of Texas Poetry, TimeSlice, The Weight of Addition, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, You Can Hear the Ocean: An Anthology of Classic and Current Poetry and Level Land: Poetry For and About the I35 Corridor.
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