It's Still Life

Tattoo

It’s a long lingering bruise
for a woman he once loved,

a red inked heart
with a twisting rose vine,
thorny,
prickly.

Bloody woman’s still under his skin.

He’s thankful for small mercies,
it’s on his boney shoulder blade
and he can’t see it
without mirrors and contortions.

And he cushions his beer buzz
against the snooker table,
draws back the cue stick,

and banks the cue ball
into the side pocket.

RDP “bank”. AI image created with Midjourney. ALT prompt: bearded man, old skin wrinkled creased, in the style of pointillist dots and specks, eerie whimsy, whistlerian, silk painting, darkly romantic illustrations, inuit art, darkly romantic realism, style Walt Kelley, –uplight, –ar 16:9 Imagery and poems ©Misky 2023.