Poetry

R.T. Castleberry

Called by Name

I used another name last night,
took initials and a ringleader’s bandanna
into calibrations of changing moonlight.
I carry knives in every pocket,
a coin lucky for the week.
Loose on my hand,
the signet ring is a stranger’s fit.
I use Crown Royal to share my voice,
a shoplifter’s Mont Blanc to sign
broadsides written for the war.
Fortunate in a year of injury, circuit failure,
I select a difficult souvenir,
take a motorcycle track
and a letter to Sam Houston.
Like war movies I’ve seen,
the ethics of death aren’t his concern.
I stand at bayou’s edge, watch
campfire consorts spill Beaujolais.
Let Barabbas explain the next message.
I wrap black silk around a racer’s derby,
lean my bike towards the nearest coastline.
I’m gone from here.

R.T. Castleberry’s poetry has appeared in Roanoke Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, Pedestal Magazine, Green Mountains Review, The Alembic and Comstock Review. Internationally, he’s had work published in Canada, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Portugal and Antarctica. Castleberry’s poetry has appeared in the anthologies: Travois-An Anthology of Texas Poetry, TimeSlice, The Weight of Addition, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, Kind Of A Hurricane: Without Words and Level Land: Poetry For and About the I35 Corridor. A chapbook, Arriving At The Riverside, was published by Finishing Line Press in January, 2010. An e-book, Dialogue and Appetite, was published by Right Hand Pointing in May, 2011.