Robert Cooperman

DELICIOUS SINS

In the men's room,
Robert Johnson tempted
at the Crossroads: the myth
that started modern
American music;
in the ladies': Adam,
Eve, and the Serpent.

Beth and I loved
to linger in those sanctuaries
after our delicious breakfasts
and cups of coffee.

But one morning
those murals were painted over,
our bathrooms just places
to do our business and get on
with the rest of our day.
When we asked our waitress,
she looked left, right,
then confided in whispers:

"The owner cheated
with the woman
who painted them;
his wife tossed him out
and smeared brush and paint
all over the walls."

That artist taunting her rival?
Or art's uncontrollable
guilty conscience?


Gerald So reads "Delicious Sins":




Cooperman confesses: "'Delicious Sins' is based on a true story. Sad and understandable, but I wish the murals didn't have to go."

ROBERT COOPERMAN's latest collections are Troy (March Street Press) and Cave Dweller (Wind Publications). The Lily of the West is forthcoming from Wind Publications in the Spring. Cooperman's work has appeared in Sewanee Review, The North American Review, and The Southern Humanities Review. Cooperman lives in Denver with his wife Beth.

World’s First Poetry Murder Mystery Webseries

I learned of the webseries VERSE via Bob Holman's blog today. Incidentally, Bob was kind enough to record Hal Sirowitz's poem, "Through Pink-Tinged Glasses", coming to The 5-2 February 27.

Welcome, Readers of Poets & Writers

I'm a longtime subscriber to Poets & Writers, and thanks to a tip from Lola Koundakjian, The 5-2 is now listed in PW.org's database of literary magazines.

#verseday Photographs

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, February 16. My topic this week is photographs.

Write a poem based on a photograph or photographs by noon Friday, February 17.