"This melancholy London - I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air. - W. B. Yeats

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Bedtime Story

peeling oranges in my bed
in underwear and a baggy sweater--no socks.

It's cold in here, and I'm relishing the
goosebumps rising like leavened bread
over my legs.

I like to run my fingers over them
like braille
and read the story of my skin
which begins

once upon a time
on a rainy october night
just a bit after midnight
a girl ate an orange bit by bit,
and tossed the peel in the bin
with an empty beer bottle to keep it
company
and felt
uncannily lonesome.

No comments:

Post a Comment