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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/book “Flawed Cadaver” cc&d, v278 (the December 2017 issue) Order this as a 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book Negative Space (the 2017 poetry, flash fiction & art collection anthology)		get the 298 page poem, flash fiction & art collection anthology as a 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Order this writing in the issue book Language of Untamed Spirit the cc&d Sept.-Dec.2017 collection book		get the 4 page May-August 2017 cc&d magazine issue collection 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

The Rail

Greg G. Zaino

Like uneaten fruit left to mold
on an abandoned banquet table
forehead bowed, blank eyes staring
at the space between her canvas sneakers.

Alone in the downtown crowd,
another tired breath follows the last
the blurred world beyond her focus lay siege.
Toni waited on her bus in silence,
concealing the red rash
that assaulted her nail bitten fingers.

Who she was; a fleeting notion;
a nonentity that hadn’t a voice.
detached, suffering the pain of degradation
her sorrow contained.

She had always been the compliant one,
the silent one, a wallflower; married just out of high school
did what was expected and loathed her life.

Vague remembrances of adolescent dreams,
snatched away- an old woman’s sorrows
at age 29,
but it might have gotten better if only...
thoughts of what should have been,
could have been...
something dark was on her mind.

Like an unflinching cat in the shadows,
in silence it crept - a quietude settled deep.
for once in her life, Toni chose for herself.

A smile reached her lips.
_ the resolution; to part company, leave it all behind.
the memories of death and deceit- him- them- all behind.
the way it should be, would be...

A new moon in October, the Portsmouth side of infinity,
the constellations overhead shone like gems.
blown back by strong gusts, her tears slipped away,
carried on an unsympathetic wind.

With a white knuckled grip, Toni, smiled at the irony,
pulled her right leg over the top rail of ultimate decisions
on the Mount Hope Bridge...

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