Rubrico

by Michael Cluff

Yvette is slurping on an egg creme
made by Manny at the cooler
he wears a yellow sweatshirt
with a spot shaped like South Dakota.

Her cousin from Caledonia
does not like to speak any langauge
she would rather writhe
in a dizzy jazz improv
that reminds Hank
of Gillespie.

A spearfish wallows in a drying lake
filled with potash and ptomaine
he has beaten tthe odds before
but that was back in Buffalo.

Stewart wonders about Wilma
a hostess for an airline
that only flights the night shifts
between Branff and Boise and Poughkeepsie
in only the foulest weather.

Hank shaves a solid block of ice
to recall Wilma's features
she was too much like Manny
and Yvette would have to solve it.