Ivan Brkaric - Three Poems

Vinegar

She got him a gift,
but said it wasn’t ready yet.

She said she needed a final piece
to complete it.

He got her a gift too.

A bottle of wine,
from the old country.

From the same vineyard
that his grandfather worked.

They said that they would meet again.

But he drank it with another
and the delicious wine
he wanted to share with her
tasted sour.

So sour, it tasted like vinegar.



Blind Date With a Vegan

She eyeballs
a juicy piece
of chicken
that I eat
from my plate.

Comments
on the fact
that the chicken
I’m eating
had a hard life.

‘Cooped up’
in a cell
not big enough
to stand in
or even
turn around in.

I continue
to eat my meal
savoring every
bit of it.

Then
I look at her
eat a dried-up
piece of lettuce.

Like a rabbit
she chews it.

Soon,
I catch a
glimpse of
her leather shoe,
half hidden,
protruding
from underneath
the table skirt.

And with
an open mouth
full of chicken,
I compliment her.

‘Nice Shoes,” I say.



Insensitive

She loosely holds
her child in one arm
and with the other,
she gently places
down her purse.

In it, she fumbles
to find her pack
of Newports.

She places one
in her mouth,
but can’t find
her lighter.

That’s when
she notices me
and asks if
she could use mine.

She starts to talk.
With her annoying voice
she informs me about
how fucked up
‘the system’ is.

But I don’t care,

She awkwardly
balances her son
on her hip.

She takes another
drag and exhales.
Then she continues to talk
about some nonsense.

Something about
insurance companies
and how insensitive
they are.

I don’t pay
attention to her.
Instead, I am fixated
on her child.

Like a coal miner
trapped in a cave-in,
his face is covered in dirt.

And a snot bubble
pulsates
in and out of his nose.

“You know what I mean?”
she says.

I finish my cigarette
and nod my head.

“Yep, they sure are insensitive.”
I reply.



Ivan Brkaric still can't believe that people actually read his poetry. In his spare time he edits an e-zine called Callused Hands (http://callusedhands.blogspot.com), a place where ordinary people can share ordinary literature. His poetry has appeared in several on-line publications.