1 Poem by R. T. Castleberry

TRACING THE SIN (TO THE SOURCE)

Lamp light obscures
winter’s burn on barren trees.
I change the mistake,
clear my conscience,
roll into a renter’s bed--
twisted rags of blanket, sweated sheet,
pillows pounded flat.

I curl in morning quarters, conscious,
keys in hand.
A rasp of morning radio
tumbles me to my feet.
I ache until the daily burst
of Red Bull and B12.

Binders of protest metaphor, misadventure,
mid-week’s work of half-typed pages,
pile like shavings for a fire.
I cannot be still. I refuse to quiet.
The chase of chance and choice
calls over the drag of carillon bells,
the orphan’s ambulance siren.


Bionote

R.T. Castleberry is a widely published poet and social critic. He was a co-founder of the Flying Dutchman Writers Troupe, co-editor/publisher of the poetry magazine Curbside Review, an assistant editor for Lily Poetry Review and Ardent. He was a 2015 Pushcart Prize nominee. His work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Poetry Pacific, Iodine Poetry Journal, Blue Collar Review and many others. His chapbook, Arriving At The Riverside, was published by Finishing Line Press in January, 2010. An e-book, Dialogue and Appetite, was published by Right Hand Pointing in May, 2011. He lives and writes in Houston, Texas.