The Bad Room. By Gwil James Thomas

I loved establishments where 

the sweat dripped off the walls 

and you could feel the broken glass 

crunch and crack under your shoe, 

as much as the next person -

but this was a different sort of dive. 

Something inexplicably foul 

had happened in that single roomed flat,

something far deeper 

than the strange smell - 

something deviant and tragic.

Fear dripped through the old wallpaper

as unmistakably as blood.  

I knew it, 

the estate agent showing me around knew it 

and the cheap price confirmed it.

There was little poetry to be found there 

and that room wouldn’t need me 

to add to the suffering, 

hopelessly trying to find it.

I left the building and wandered 

back down the street - 

watching dried leaves turn in the wind 

wondering where I’d go next?

Gwil James Thomas is a Best of The Net and Pushcart nominee currently living in Donostia, Pais Vasco. He has worked as a chef, product demonstrator, aeroplane cleaner, labourer and news article archivist. His two most recent poetry chapbooks are In The Barrel of a Beautiful Wave (Holy&Intoxicated Publications) for sales and inquiries: johndrobinson@yahoo.co.uk and Writing Beer, Drinking Poetry (Concrete Meat Press) which can be found here: https://adrianmanning.wixsite.com/concretemeatpress/publications