he smokes
spliffs
bitter sips
not a fucking
tooth in his
head

me on a drunk
ledge wondering
high
how high
a fall from the grace
of God could

B

my electric body sings
for a push from a person
of good use elsewhere
saint nowhere
here now

some of it is true
after all i hold the
memory & after all this
he asks he pleas
give me a smile

A

pit a mob a glam dance
breast to shoulder to ass
in stalk rows lifted
by a gale shouted
in chorus unison
so loud it spirals
above washes over
head he has me
i think he says down
to a

T

i mishear words quoted
through bourbon & brogue
who’s the pogue here
if you’re on the
frontlines but i’m not
you’re everywhere
i’m not
i’m not

all this lost in the translator
lost while a hammered spirit
spits through the first set
collapses backstage during
intermission’s eerie calm
like the center of a story
Sorted & plotted then
broken by six plucked
punches

B slide E
G E G
C

i see & feel the bass’s rhythm
drum on my jeans our backs beaten
by his strum mummers
masked & mimed
sweat ignites lighter
fluid first lyric
his forehead against mine
an earful of feedback
this is the turn this tune
he says it’s the best ever
this riff i think he says
his breath a skunky
drag

outside after all this
our breath rises & swirls
in silence now
cracked lips pinch a fag
another one extends jostled
from the pack his hands
cup lighter flame
beneath my chin
in his orange palms i see
everything everywhere
from every point & angle
i saw my own face
i saw your face
i weep over myself
wound tight in standard
tuning
him a drop

D