Todd Moore & YBR

What follows are all the free-standing poems I published in Yellow Bat Review, which was around for six issues from 2002 to 2004. In the fifth issue I published his chapbook White Heat, a collection of 10 poems.

You can't have enough Todd Moore.

#


when you tell

a story
tanner sd
rubbing the
ball of
his right
thumb across
the moist
butt of his
cigaret
let it
come at its
own speed
every story
has a
secret
rhythm that
goes way
inside
& floats
in yr blood
also
don't try
to act it
out good
stories
don't need
to be per
formed
just
listed to

from YBR#2

#


frank's gramma

was so small
he used to
give her rides
in his radio
flyer which
made her
laugh & yell
giddyup horsie
frank wd get
red in the
face & say
i'm not yr
horse but she
wasn't listen
ing instead
she was talk
ing abt peaches
a little black
pony she rode as
a girl i never
knew what speed
was till i had
peaches riding
her was like
falling asleep
in the wind

from YBR#3

#

griff spread

the money out
across the
front seat
& smiled
i touched a
20 & sd
how hard
was it
griff pulled
a 38 special
out of his
jacket poc
ket & sd
the store
clerk pissed
his pants
you gonna
tell
no i sd
there was
a mole
growing
on the back
of his left
hand he
bit it off
ate it &
sd that's
good

from YBR#4

#

playing catch

in the gravel
& broken glass
behind benny's
red horse tap
& rick is yell
ing burn em in
when his old
man leans out
the back door
& sez jesus
christ lets
keep it down
i'm trying to
concentrate
on my drinking
game then he
shoots me a
look sez
hey sonny
next time
you see
yr old man
ask him
abt that
sore on the
head of
his dick

from YBR#4

#

eddie had a

cowboy hat in one
hand & a colt 32
in the other & was
pacing back & forth
behind the hotel
when he sd ok mona
now what the fuck're
we gonna do & all
she sd was gimme
yr lighter & she
emptied an arm
load of bloody
sheets & some
thing else that was
heavy on top of
a patch of scorched
paper & lit it &
stepped back as
tho that was all it
wd take to avoid
the smoke when
she saw me watch
ing she sd fuck
you kid then the
world smelled of
ashes & rags &
cigarets & paper
& garbage & blood

from YBR #6