Silent Voices

 

Domestic Violence

 

BETWEEN THE BOTTLE AND THE BOTTOM

Here I am again between the bottle and the bottom

the balcony door open like a mouth

the sixth floor yawns the world awaits

to swallow me whole. I have an appetite for bacon fat

on toast with jam. Thinning hair and leaking pipes. I marvel

at this whispered life.

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THE BANKERSARE SWINGING FROM THE CRUCIFIX

gossip

water slapping the side of the boat

Spring on the moon

liar

the organist

touch

Michael rode...

Peggy Lee

download The Saints of Jazz
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Peggy Lee (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002)

Eyes can be beautiful. So gay and young. Peggy’s step-mother had eyes. As black

as coal. As hard as iron. The back of her hand. Across Peggy's cheeks. Don’t think

your daddy is going to save you now.

Peggy sang for her meals. In small joints. With fast cooks. And red necks. And the

chorus of bacon and burning violins. Peggy joined the dreamers. Dancing into

heartache. To the City of Angels. Where children were begging to be born.

300 Dutch ice cream salesmen protested. The shortage of appetite. While their

wives organized their socks. And ironed their shirts. And while the salesmen

marched on the parliament. Shoes were left at the doorstep. Curtains closed in

haste. And Peggy sang about the neighbourhood boys. Who risked their lives.

To appease. The appetite of salesmen’s wives.

An airplane crashed into the Empire State Building. The pilot begged the mayor.

It was an accident. And 1942. No one doubted that he was telling the truth. Until

they found his plans. And sweet Peggy almost died. A fall in a New York hotel.

She was tripped. At the top of a set of stairs. By a man with no legs. He leaked

a secret. Don’t be in such a rush.

Peggy sang. Quietly. Her voice simmered. Everyone leaned. Forward. The waiters

hesitated to wait. No one dared slam a door. In the kitchen. Or in the parking lot.

In the hotel rooms. Lovers held their breath. If silence were a dance. Singing was

a substitute for love.

temper tantrum

Pandemic

Freudian Slip

Pavlov

a change of diapers

yoga

imagination

rabies

inspiration