Tracing lines. by Ashley Cooke

With fire between his teeth

and smoke filling the air

choking the lungs of those

who watched him so curiously

His greased black hair shone in the sun

like a freshly waxed classic car

and his voice revved like an engine

making the girls swoon around him

They could never catch a hold of him

and only a few were offered a smile

they chased him down as often as they could

but his converse had more holes than canvas

His colorful tattoos he always held his palms over

as if he couldn't hold them in place for much longer

he ran his fingers over the lines slowly

tracing those old stories again.

Ashley Cooke is a creative writing major attending Long Beach City College. She is from Long Beach, CA. She is currently working on her first poetry collection. Her work can be found in various online journals such as Moontide Press, Horror Sleaze Trash, Scarlett Leaf Review and many others.