04-14-2015, 09:26 AM
Jennifer's Body
We pulled her body from the lake
like Lazarus was pulled from dreams
and set her free.
She shambles through the town
now, showing too much sand-rimed skin.
Her once-yellow sun dress
rots away from carp-grey breasts.
Lu Pei from the Chinese Laundry
scrubs the sidewalk where she stands
with a corn husk broom
pretending not to notice
while shooing her away.
Down at Maddy’s Village Diner
no one orders peach cobbler for dessert
while she’s pressed
against the window,
her hollow eyes stare in from the outside.
She’s one of us now
like she never was before.
We've grown accustomed to her
smell, like old tires, intruding picnics
at the Veteran's Memorial Park.
And if she comes pawing at the door
after the dinner dishes are washed
and the family is settled in to watch TV,
attracted by the light pushing away the dark,
we let her in, as welcome as old guilt.
We pulled her body from the lake
like Lazarus was pulled from dreams
and set her free.
She shambles through the town
now, showing too much sand-rimed skin.
Her once-yellow sun dress
rots away from carp-grey breasts.
Lu Pei from the Chinese Laundry
scrubs the sidewalk where she stands
with a corn husk broom
pretending not to notice
while shooing her away.
Down at Maddy’s Village Diner
no one orders peach cobbler for dessert
while she’s pressed
against the window,
her hollow eyes stare in from the outside.
She’s one of us now
like she never was before.
We've grown accustomed to her
smell, like old tires, intruding picnics
at the Veteran's Memorial Park.
And if she comes pawing at the door
after the dinner dishes are washed
and the family is settled in to watch TV,
attracted by the light pushing away the dark,
we let her in, as welcome as old guilt.