1.
a hookah bar is opening in our neighborhood
and we young toughs flick our butts
at the Coming Soon! front window shout
while we smoke in the American way
and burn and burn and burn

2.
even now I cannot see her smile
without the stern of my heart
bashing into that same fucking rock

3.
I do not believe in walking up escalators
great men and minds have labored and sweat
in the construction of these wondrous things
that take me from the parking lot to my office
let them do the job they have been so well designed and oiled for
say I
as less patient men rush past me headlong upwards
in their dream-like speeding walks
all to the same slow fate

Art, Grant Bailie, Poetry

About the Author

Grant Bailie

Grant Bailie is the author of the novels Cloud 8 and Mortarville, as well as numerous stories online and in print. His latest novel, New Hope for Small Men is available in e-book form under the auspices of Necessary Fiction, where it was first serialized. His book TomorrowLand--an illustrated novel of sorts--is due out in the fall through Red Giant Books Mr. Bailie currently lives in Lakewood, Ohio, which is a stone’s throw from Cleveland. He knows this because sometimes the people in Cleveland throw stones.

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