Bookstore Magazines
The military mags can’t get enough
of Hitler. How many times have I seen him
invade Russia? Their headlines ask, “What if?”
The war he started is covered like a game
of dunks (not Dunkirk), power plays, goal-line
stands. The sports mags flank left on the long rack.
Beneath them: all the covers plastered with guns
and knives, essential hacks for fighting back.
I scan the other side of the rack: A female
pop star gazes from a dozen glossy journals
plus a coloring book for grade-school fans.
Long hair, long legs, a prize for winning the finals
or the final battle, and someone to sell
on defense—smaller Glocks for smaller hands.
*
Robert Lowes is a writer in St. Louis, Missouri, whose second collection of poetry, Shocking the Dark (Kelsay Books), was published in April 2024. His first collection, An Honest Hunger (Resource Publications), came out in 2020. His poems have appeared in journals such as The New Republic, Southern Poetry Review, One Art, Tampa Review, The Journal of the American Medical Association, Modern Haiku, and December. He is a journeyman guitarist on a long journey.
