Stolen Angels
Smoking a cigarette
in the dark outside
during a calm and dramatic
length of time.
How I flick away
my ashes makes it noir.
No matter what she says,
the dark haired woman,
with navy blue fingernails
and a cough, hands holding
a complicated drink
that doesn’t spill
no matter how often
she waves it around.
I would spill my drink
have spilled it like news
and all the booze
soaking my blouse.
I’m cold and sober
waiting for a refill
waiting for a light.
©2021 Carol Ellis All rights reserved.
Carol Ellis lives in Portland, Oregon. Her books include the full-length Lost and Local (Pacific Coast Poetry Series, 2019), HELLO (Two Plum Press, 2018), and I Want A Job (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Her publications include Comstock Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Trampoline, ZYZZYVA, and The Cincinnati Review.