twist the lemon dry |
by R.D. McManes

unique is the twelve-fingered man
playing a ten-string guitar
on the corner
of stoned cold blind
third block on the left
behind the shades
are sightless eyes
i ask about the guitar
and the extra fingers fly

between the notes
a martini runs dry
everything begins and ends
with a shake and not a stir
there are lessons
and then there are lessons
but what makes
extra fingers grow
and why not the thumbs

he told me lemons
don’t grow on lime trees
and never hum on a good buzz
or buzz a good hum
some things can’t be rushed
the genetics of pure music
and bridges fingered-fast
are some
 
 
 
 
 
Stopgap


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The Writer: R.D. McManes is the author of seven books of poetry. Mr. McManes has had poems published in Saucyvox, Literary Expresso, Prairie Poetry, Write On, Short Stuff, Writer’s Hood, Haiku Sun, Scrivener’s Pen, Mipo Magazine, Swooping Hawk Quarterly, The Heron’s Nest, Poems Niederngasse, Taj Mahal Review, SP Quill Quarterly Magazine, Simply Haiku, Poetic Voices, Mountain Echoes, Poetry Sharing Journal, Newtopia,Lochraven Review, Banks of the Little Miami, and Baroque Review. He has conducted poetry workshops and related writing presentations for the Kansas Author’s Club and currently resides near Scranton Kansas.

The Artist: Katrina Pallop is a playwright, photographer, and actress based in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her photographs have been published by a number of independent magazines, among them The 2River View, Calyx, and OVS. Her online portfolio can be found here.