Poetic response to the “Humor in Public Spaces” prompt:
In the Queue
In a local Rite-Aid stood I
customer in a patient line.
Ahead, a woman with markings
on the nape of her neck, arcing.
My eyes could not resist a stare
at the cursive scribble, I swear.
At first, black ink appeared to be
flowing Asian calligraphy.
Smooth curves of horizontal form
characters more the English norm.
Unreadable, not a single letter,
kind query, the woman would know better.
Amiably she turned, called it her tat’
pleased I noticed what she nearly forgat.
Tom Hardy, she said with some pride
penned his autograph on her hide.
She inked the signature he had writ,
her favorite, hunky bulging Brit.
In my brain, no bell was rung by his name
you may know Bane, villain of Batman fame.
Sleeveless, the woman neither young nor old
nothing coarse or crude, if it must be told.
So high on celebrity juice
she hardly remembered the truth.
Intoxicating stuff once tasted,
a night first euphoric, then wasted.
This poem describes a random encounter (in a public space). I love when that happens! The conversation made the wait in line faster, and more entertaining. The revision process settled on couplets to tell a simple story and later, attention to rhyme and meter seemed to lightly present the humor. The title and several other word choices refer to Great Britain, where the encounter between the female subject of the poem and her idol occurred.
Steve Pollack advised local governments, built hospitals, science labs and public schools. Poetry found him later. He was named the 2025 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County (PA). His work has appeared in Thin Places Literary Journal, Keystone: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania and Mukoli- The Magazine for Peace. Other poems are forthcoming in Passager Journal and The Brussels Review. His debut chapbook, “L’dor Vador – From Generation to Generation”, was published by Finishing Line Press.
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