Stephen J. Golds

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LOVE?

I sometimes wonder,
how so many writers
can write about crime
when they’ve never
committed a felony
or a simple
misdemeanor?

I sometimes look at their faces
smiling with perfect teeth,
clear skinned.
Untroubled eyes, having

never punched someone in the face
nor
been punched in the face.

Never shot a rifle at a target even
nor
held a handgun pointed at a friend in jest.

Never walked an empty, reaching night
a worn knuckleduster clutched in jacket pocket
nor
kept a baseball bat with a baseball
in the car just in case the cops asked.

Never bought a pack of cigarettes with counterfeit currency
nor
rolled a drunk just because the desperation was there.

Never wiped another’s blood from their fist
nor
witnessed their blood on the fist of another.

Never known the shame of wearing a black eye
nor
given the shame of wearing one.

I know people
will say
that it’s all in the
imagination and it’s fantasy

but

how can you write
about love,

when you’ve never even
been in love?


Steve reads "What Do You Know About Love?":



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Steve confesses: "I always look at authors photographs in the backs of gritty crime novels and I’m always surprised how clean-faced so many of them are. So seemingly untroubled but yet able to write about the things they do. Research can only take you so far. I guess it all comes down to the aged debate of do you have to live it to be able to write it well? I don’t know."

STEPHEN J. GOLDS was born in London, U.K, but has lived in Japan for most of his adult life. He enjoys spending time with his daughters, reading books, traveling, boxing and listening to old Soul LPs. His novel Say Goodbye When I’m Gone will be released by Red Dog Press in October 2020 and another novel Glamour Girl Gone will be released by Close to The Bone Press January 2021.