A Poem by Ben Rasnic

Urban Still Life

“A 23-year-old female was shot in the head tonight outside
of a flower and card shop. She died a short time later.”

Splashes of rain
tattoo neon pools
of pitted concrete.

 

Pulse of random gunfire
startles the quiet,
flashes revolving sirens

 

in wreathes
of splattered crimson
and shattered glass.

 

The 10 o’clock News
punctuates the day’s
events—violent and pointless;

irreconcilable episodes
between unbearable
silences.

Ben Rasnic is a native of Jonesville, a small rural town in Southwest Virginia with a population <1000.  A Pushcart Prize nominee in 2011, Rasnic still considers as his greatest literary achievement, electing to publish two short poems by Yusef Komunyakaa while serving as editor of his college literary magazine, Jimson Weed, in 1978—16 years before Komunyakaa received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.  He is the author of two volumes of poetry, “Artifacts and Legends” (2012) and “Puppet” (2013), both available on amazon.com.. Ben currently resides in Bowie, Maryland.