Bio
Bob Lucky lives in Ethiopia. His work has appeared in various journals and anthologies, including Modern Haiku, The Prose-Poem Project, Contemporary Haibun, The Tanka Prose Anthology, and Crab Orchard Review. One of his short stories was a Glimmer Train finalist this year. He is co-author of the chapbook my favorite thing (bottle rockets press), which was shortlisted for the 2011 Touchstone Distinguished Books Award. He is a graduate of the online bilingual MFA program at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Bob Lucky
Killings
Stuck in a pre-rush hour traffic jam on Ethio-China Road, fumes and horns in the morning haze, news on every radio station, English, Amharic, a mix. Death is today's theme. Kids playing with a rocket in Afghanistan arrive early in some paradise. Eight policemen in Mexico go out on their last call. Julia Roberts makes fifty million dollars hawking cosmetics. Some cafes are open for business, and a couple of butcher shops with sides of beef waiting to be whittled into meals hang on racks against the walls. People, moving faster than the traffic, dodge potholes, mud holes, donkey dung and sheep shit. The broom-and-mop salesmen hit the streets. Steam rises from the abattoir, and I mistake a hunched buzzard for a twisted street lamp trembling in the breeze.