Two Poems by Michael Ashley

Two Bullets Away

at 2.43am

Dr Konowitz

removed the first slug 

it swilled 

around the kidney dish

like a small black beetle 

number two 

was never removed 

today he slaps his chest

rattles a penny in a jar 

and laughs with Billy  

too ashamed to tell him 

how this moment 

almost never came

The Vintage Jacket

it hangs 

in the confines

of my wardrobe

the words 

Devil's Disciple 

emblazoned 

on its back

at least once a month

I take it out

slip it on

for a moment 

I'm nineteen again

and can feel her roar

between my thighs

taking the hair-pins 

at ninety on Sunday

afternoons 

but the door

always shuts

sometimes

leather scented memories 

are not enough

most Sunday afternoons

I walk to Wynstons

pay £75.00

for an hour

with Halyna

who smells 

of CK One

and grunts

dirty words at me

in Ukranian 

as I plant

another meaningless load

into the emptiness