Beauty Queen
Her eyes filtered over the glasses
Like sunspots through wheat fields &
The music blares an unholy yellow
& she sings into the screaming heat of bodies
& lip gloss & sequin dresses &
Wiry hair & artificial smoke & her breath pops
Like bubble gum & the bass strums a heart beat
Into the onlookers & the dancers & the drunkards
& she can smell the drugs in their sweat & she
Can feel their eyes on her fur coat
Watching her body & the music
Isn’t enough to keep her forgetting
& The smoke suffocates her in
Memories & the braid in her hair swings
Like a horse tail flicking away flies
But this time the insects buzz with insanity &
This time the scrotty guy in the corner
Tucks more bills into his sleeve & her eyes are
Drawn to his stubby fingers and the heavy
Bottle with the heavier heart & her intermission
Is fruitless & her voice wants attention
But her body is where their eyes
Linger & the flies swarm her tight blonde braid &
She can’t focus & the lights blur
& the disco ball rains on soulless bodies & they
Dance surrounded by old tattoos & melted
Ice cream & human waste that didn’t belong
Anywhere else & her sequins glare into the night
& she’s terrified but her words lapse over them
In awe & longing & her eyes cascade over them
Churning in the deep & she sings
Absent of her lungs & heart & mouth &
She spills her soul onto the floor
With the rotten piss & old drinks &
Glistening sweat & her sunglasses are pulled
Low in the midnight light & her lips
Purse with sorrow & she lifts her hand
To her mouth & the white capsule falls in
& she swallows her memories with an
Oblivion of hexagon shaped glasses &
Her knees hit the floor & it is finally quiet