Cathy Porter

Rain Dogs of the Diner

Eggs and sausage, a holy meal
for broken bones and broken minds –
the skin of uncertainty on parade.
He sings for them -- the hearts
of Saturday night, grudges taken
to graves, booze and murder, ridin’
with Lady Luck in a rusted ’55 Chevy –
ready to explode like a volcanic
eruption. This dump jacks his pulse
to the heavens, pays the rent at
the Tropicana; keeps him in booze
and smokes. If he never gets signed,
he’ll still be here, singing to the flock,
jotting lyrics on greasy napkins.
The ragged rain dogs of the diner,
open wounds on display. Just
a matter of time before the
rest catch on.

 

Cathy Porter’s poetry has appeared in Plainsongs, Homestead Review, California Quarterly, Hubbub, Cottonwood, Comstock Review, and various other journals. She has two chapbooks available from Finishing Line Press: A Life In The Day (2012), and Dust And Angels (2014), as well as two chapbooks published by Dancing Girl Press in Chicago: Exit Songs (2016), and 16 Days (2019). Her latest collection, The Skin Of Uncertainty, is forthcoming from Maverick Duck Press in 2020. Cathy is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and serves as a special editor for the journal Fine Lines in Omaha, NE, where she lives with her husband Lenny and their dog Marley, and cats Cody and Mini.