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by Jacqlyn Cope
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(“La Cita Bar” mobile version)
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An eight-ball in the corner pocket
—————————————–a velvet handed caress to the neck.
There’s never been a night this thick
—————————————–and warm, sweat seeming to wring from
stars, dimly showcasing cigarette butts
—————————————–dug into red graffiti art on concrete.
The bulbs above La Cita Bar casting
—————————————–Christmas colors against skyscrapers
like the runway lights of a flight line.
—————————————–The static buzzing sound of the DJ’s set
like an LMR radio receiving patient load.
—————————————–Floors throbbing with bass through toes
nostalgia of rumbling jet engines.
—————————————–A reflection in the glass
———————of a half filled Michelada.
A flush of color
——————–red.
—————————–A stranger
—————————–A uniform
—————————–A stranger
—————————————Me.
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Jacqlyn Cope is an 8-year Air Force veteran that worked as an aeromedical evacuation mission controller who decided to leave the military in 2016 to pursue her writing career and education. She has an MFA in creative writing from Mount Saint Mary’s University and is currently a 7th grade English teacher for LAUSD. She also recently moderated a panel at the 2020 AWP conference called, “Butch, Bitch, or Whore? American Women Veteran Writers.”
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