at Lovely’s Diner.
They got the vending
machine cigarettes,
change and trouble.
Charlie got out first
and he thought Robby
was right behind him
but he was stuck
in the bathroom window.
It was a piece of devil’s
food cake for the cops
and Robby sang
like it was his
partner’s birthday.
Charlie never explained
showing up his mourning.
I don’t think
he was making sure
the corpse wasn’t
a ringer.
Maybe more a case
of that honor
you hear a lot about
but never see up close.
Summit View
is a blindfold
around Cadillac Mountain.
But the innkeeper says
don’t fret
because beauty
isn’t necessarily
two-hundred miles away.
Tourists try to heed
her advice,
study the pink granite
at their feet—
mosaics hinting
panoramas
they regret
missing.
Seagulls as if hired
by the innkeeper
strut around
clearing jewels
of snacks
dropped.