Killing Floor
What if I were invisible, she asks where would the liquids go? She’s serious now She’s given up on life and this is her last request an answer to what is death and what use is anything without a drink a dry martini and a pack of Marlboro Reds. She has priorities when it comes to life after death Is there darkness and laughter If not, I’m not going there I’ll hang around with you lot thank you very much and I’ll see you on the killing floor. How do I mute key phrases key poets and prophets who are a stab to my heart. I am as unnecessary as a disposable razor blade and I am sharp enough to die. My first highs— Marlboros before they were Light drinks from the basement Guy de Maupassant— when they used to read. I was put down there with the spiders in Omaha I was disposable after all an after-effect of the war he went through so he beat me when I was inconvenient and he loved me when he was through. Assassin inspired by Ariel by Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath knew — Endings have beginnings Like snakes in drainpipes Or Lynette Fromme on a very bad day It’s dust to dust and hell to hell The devil comes and rings his bell We all have that train to ride — Spoil the illusion and we’re gone Blow it up, but we’ll go on We’re endless as the sea And nothing contains everything. Ruthless That night was ruthless And I went insane But it was a good thing. I spoke to the prophet Who explained it all. He shot the bullet Because he was searching for life. He was a mystic looking for a star. I am dispensable now. Howling My slippery days are over But the fire still lives on There’s a soft moon rising Any day now. There’s a wolf I loved And I let the beast destroy me It doesn’t matter now No one believed me anyhow. But I kept on crying wolf Pretending that I mattered I’m a voice howling in the dark One day they’ll find my heart. Plath and Sexton Your eyes are extraordinary And your mouth is red Like roses at midnight Your nose is of no consequence But your hair is perfect And I’m ready for you To crack me again You are the phantom That spins me around Who picks me up From the floor of despair I’m a passenger here So close my eyes My window is viewless Anyway, I like your disguise I’ll do as I’m told I have a pill to take But I’ll take that drink now Then I’ll die when you say. Faith Has Been Broken Faith has been broken, It was silly to try, and really, why? Throw the bomb and blow us apart, It frightens the fish, we’re pathetic anyhow, Feasting on powder falling from your tongue, Circling around with our mouths open, Begging like top or bottom feeders, Like husbands and wives, We’re entertainment in an aquarium of lies, Like a cat with no paw, we’re fantastic, No need to drop us a line, We’ll eat what we’re fed, and we’ll play along, And we’ll die when we’re told, We’ll believe you, somehow, That this is an ocean or a natural pond, But really it’s your game, and we’ll live till we’re done. Strange dreams may hold us, Lead us around by the tongue, Making sweet sounds, Drawing us down, clasping and dancing, Claws in our crowns, you’re lethal with smiling, With incisors we don’t see until it’s too late, And we’re flopping around, Why don’t we get it? A tiger has stripes, A Siamese has twins, coon cats aren’t black, What does anything mean, because a cat is a cat, And we’re fish in a bowl, every one, Red, English, Spanish or French, We have gills and we’re gullible, We’ve a tail that moves around, But we’re just swimming in order to drown. August 2022 Poetry Showcase from Elizabeth Cusack July 2022 Poetry Showcase by Elizabeth Cusack Dylan Poetry Showcase from Elizabeth Cusack
Fevers of the Mind 