3:00 AM still awake she is painting on the red board, hammering gold leaf around the corners of the rooms, having dismissed her young lover for having such a weak suck at birth, she’s moved on and is writing a love letter to another

her back, oh her back

              she complains

a rich girl, she is

and never had to

grow stiff around the spine

she has nothing to offer me     with her

imitation games and

careless medicine

i ignore her voice and

her loneliness

leaving her for the night dogs or

more patient souls

…whoever finds her first

~ Mlle Marlène