Issue 5: December 2003

Jonathan Asser | Hamish Ironside | Sally Read | Matthew Welton

JONATHAN ASSER

Downpour

It was raining fish in Spearmint Rhino
on the day Pete pulled up a barstool.
A Filipina expertly did porno
with a pole, her pupils minuscule.

It felt cruel. Pete stared into his Bud.
Other girls followed, as did the beers.
Tipsy even before he entered, morbid —
bored by stuffed olives, unhooked brassieres.

Pete hardly noticed when the first fish flapped
upon the stage, and then another. Girls
pressed on despite the hazard, adapting
routines — the place become a defunct Sea World.

Fish slithering everywhere. Puzzled
bouncers' suits were wilting, while Pete boozed.

Taken from Outside the All Stars (Arc, 2003)