in a club�s back room, tendrils
from Gauloises and cloves climb
across faces, shimmer entities

she�s chosen her drink in colors
of delirium, chosen this place
where all the boys have �poem�

tattooed on the backs of their necks
on the insides of lower lips �
in this space she dances the bass

drum�s anaphora, takes notes
with O�Hara�s eraser � in this place
the martinet is dead and she reads

her future in the unbearded man�s
open hand���������bar light clings
to them as they hit the night

and he presses her habit
of dreaming

��������������������into an allyside wall


� 2004 by PJ Nights
Previously published at ERWA