'I WAS A GENTLEMAN, OF COURSE' by John Findura

I didn’t look when

she took off her shirt

but I thought about

it the entire train ride

to Brooklyn

She was standing next

to me, both of us

facing the audience

behind a see-through

screen when she pulled

the green tank

top over her head

and I stood stock still,

fixing my eyes beyond

the stage

I was proud of myself

for this immaculate

self-control, although

I’m sure she’s

forgotten by now,

and I would rather

have the memory of her

naked perfection

than have this poor

recounting of my courtesy

Copyright. John Findura.

John Findura is the author of the full-length poetry collection Submerged (Five Oaks Press, 2017) and the chapbook Useful Shrapnel (forthcoming, 2022). He holds an MFA from The New School, an M.Ed in Professional Counseling, and an Ed.D in Educational Technology. His poetry and criticism appear in numerous journals including Verse; Fourteen Hills; Copper Nickel; Pleiades; Forklift, Ohio; Sixth Finch; Prelude; and Rain Taxi. A guest blogger for The Best American Poetry, he lives in Northern New Jersey with his wife and daughters.