The fire escape
for the old Johnson Hotel
climbs the wall
above Flipper’s Casino.
No such easy exit
for smokers and gamblers
if things don’t
go well inside.
But most nights it’s quiet
and no one needs
the airy steps
on the wall.
At Flipper’s the cards
* poem, in its entirety, is available in the printed version of the current issue.
Bio:
Hamish Guthrie’s poems have appeared in more than 30 magazines and journals in Canada, the United States, and England, including the Malahat Review, the Fiddlehead, and the Yale Literary Magazine. His book of poems Love Hurries This, from At Bay Press, will appear in 2022. He lives in Oakville, Ontario. Flipper’s Casino is in Missoula, Montana, his wife’s hometown.