21 or For(the) Dummies

Number 21 from The Knockouts

I still get anxious
It is a permanent state
Don’t succumb
Stay afloat
The honey in the tea
Oysters
Shuck and jive
Heroism takes heroics
Stupid things
Not stupid people
For (the) dummies
What is this matter?
Small
The way feet sit in a baby bath
Bird’s nest
Reckless afternoons at the station point
Promontory
Lofted seats on smooth ground
Sitting still
Standing room only
Stray on the stone
Song on the loudspeakers belt out
Melt out of
Love for a scene
Blind eyes
The moment of entry
Another in pairs
Rather lonesome dove
Pigeons on the project steps
Fluttered but not flustered
Maybe even more resolved than before
It is what they say about spite
One letter away from the Holy Ghost
She walks by on high heels,
Bobbed cut
Out of sight
Slow turns and handshakes
Raking leaves is not a woman’s job
Announcements
Glasshouse
Someone is listening
Chew the fat
Smoke a cigarette
Spill a drink
Dry it off with a
Molotov cocktail
Cold stones
Ice dilutes the liquor
You bleed quicker in warm water
Blood flows faster
Slit wrists and the suicide strings
Supple skin in the shadows under her eyes
Heroin chic
She hasn’t eaten
She doesn’t feed
She would starve
Steal a glancing blow
Kisses
Cramps
The pains of being headstrong
Sure footed but nearsighted
Strolling in sway
Sailing step in skirts
Oversized bag beneath shoulder slung
You may be young but hope you never had
It only leads to disappointment
Better luck and well wishes
That element of surprise when you least expect it
Out of the blue
Bonnets over head
Low hanging hither to
Thereafter
Ever ready
It is with a heavy heart I must inform
You have a fan still
Sincerely doe
Eyes don’t see but the soul
Eyes gather but the role
Shivering
Quiver
Arrows shot through the heart
Lost in the world
Over cast atrium
On the tipping point marching
Cream and vermillion
She chews her nails
Sniffs hard
Orange sherbet
Skin lining fingertips
Fingernails
Cuticles
Scratching it out on the pavement
Spelling it out on the screen
She looks so sad like that
She cries putting the phone to her ear
Online is intent
Same position
Bittersweet
No sugar in those words
Saving lives isn’t something you just jump into but I’ll do my best
Galleria suprema
With a side of spicy sauce
Shenandoah
Seppuku
Call my name
Train will take you anywhere but there
Moon and back
Santorini sanatorium
Douglass emporium fur
A tiger can’t change it’s stripes says the one with opposible
Thumbs
Teeth in mouth
Stripped tongue hallmark
Hideaway hallowed
Hang out
Score points in the playoffs
A hobbyhorse
Square pegs
And the sign says she is old
Grey
Same hair as granny and the gait to match
Hunchback bent, shuffle, slide over the skating rink
Think of what she has seen
Purple hills
Print heels
Morning glory
Scarf wrapped tight around her neck
Open toed taller
All black
We’ll take care of the housing
You just handle the work
Quote that
This morning I painted a hotel room
Nothing but flowers and the same sentiment
Don’t leave me standing here she says
It is serious
Even deathly so
Stapled to forehead
Stuck in the crawlspace
The darkness falls
The great flood
She drops
No tears
Skipping along
Smooth as silk
Knock-kneed and long jacket
Escalator
Holding her hand for the ride
Action
Are you the rabbit?
Getting an education
Crash course
Stand still and soak up the glow
Violins and glass
Acid washed hoops hanging down
Open-mouthed
Cascade
Moody sound
Something she is
Passing by for a second look
A man holding a newspaper with what Jeff Koon’s loves
Another name for it
Still standing
And like that
She is gone