John Short

LA CONCHA

The bank robber is a gentleman

raising a towel for his love to dress.

I wake some way down seashell beach

while Rick still snores behind me.

Bags rolled tight, we enter a bar,

slump on stools in a line, all four

staring at our reflections in the long

mirror behind the steel counter.

Jesus spreads arms wide over the bay

and we are down to our last pesetas

in this city of bombs and needles,

nervous police and general madness

but we possess a library of maxims:

distillations of road experience.

Reassure each other continuously

that something always turns up.

John Short's poetry is inspired by his years travelling in Europe and has appeared widely in the UK, USA, Spain, France, Austria and Ireland in magazines such as The Horror Zine, Yellow Mama, Lamplit Underground, Ghost City Review, Algebra of Owls and Envoi. In 2018 he was a Pushcart nominee and his pamphlet Unknown Territory will be published in 2020 by Black Light Engine Room (UK).