Headlights and taillights below glitter
off wet asphalt like small sparks
of truth, I can almost see the old Chevy
the drift of smoke, stain on windows
taste the tobacco, smell the beer
on your breath.
The tip of my cigarette glows hot orange
as if I could write with its burn
on this night air dense with mist
and memory journeys through myself
the deserts and cities, dim streets
and midnight bars, all the drowning stars
and sunrises to arrive at this long moment
of smoldering time at once soft
and violent.
Roxanne Doty lives in Tempe, Arizona. Her debut novel, Out Stealing Water, was published by Regal House Publishing, August 30. 2022. Her first poetry collection will be published by Kelsay Books in the spring of 2024. She has published stories and poems in Third Wednesday, Quibble Lit, Superstition Review, Espacio Fronterizo, Ocotillo Review, Forge, I70 Review, Soundings Review, The Blue Guitar, Four Chambers Literary Magazine, Lascaux Review, Lunaris Review, Journal of Microliterature, NewVerseNews, International Times, Saranac Review, Gateway Review and Reunion-The Dallas Review. Her short story, “Turbulence” (Ocotillo Review) was nominated for the 2019 Pushcart prize for short fiction.
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Cagibi Issue 21
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