Mogen David and Fifty Shades
by Travis Blair


A snotty little cloud, high and mighty
wearing Dress Greys all afternoon,
parks over South Padre’s beach crowd.

Two women stand between its shadow
and a foamy surf, tattle-tonguing about
the preacher’s wife. They whisper how

they spied her in Island Market sneaking
two bottles of Mogen David into her cart.
Who’s she trying to fool? they gaff. It’s not

even Passover! They cluck their tongues,
gnarly toes buried in cool coarse sand. Down
beach the preacher’s wife relaxes beneath

a palm, sips her wine, devours Fifty Shades
of Grey, concentrating on the erotic words,
not her exposed skin turning shades of red.

She’s unconcerned how fickle clouds
and church wags behave on summer days.
She fantasizes instead of wild love-making.






Copyright © 2024 by Red River Review. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.
No work may be reproduced or republished without the express written consent of the author.