By Kim Secunda
Leonard Cohen meets Nina Simone for drinks Wednesday 2:15 uptown
They share a dentist share clam chowder
he chain smokes she bites her nails
the rain is bossa nova slantwise
neon outside the pane bleeds both venous and arterial
her new crown aches more than her love
he uses up both their napkins and coasters jotting lyrics
they don't go upstairs
in the foyer til-next-time air kiss is glassy lake water
under the folds of his secrets beats an erratic heart
in the fold of her adroit nicotined clasp is his mother- of- pearl cufflink
Upstairs
Helen Keller sweeps hardwood halls
red and blue winks of neon are lost on her
but not the hum of roses and gin
John the Baptist and Ajax are in the tub rubbing out rusty helices of hard water
Van Gogh chops onions with Mae West in the kitchen with Dinah
Einstein is switching out chandelier bulbs
Bugs Bunny is on the sofa dreaming dark matter
Gandhi tidies up the linen closet
Zsa Zsa Gabor cuts her toenails alone in the bedroom
under the bed is Frida Kahlos' cigar box of dead hummingbirds
the apartment above is empty
in the stairwell Geronimo coughs up blood
4th floor
is an ice rink that never closes
music is live cotton candy fresh
& it is easy to fall in love
5th floor
Lucille Ball knits a sweater of rainbows in the sunroom
Professor Plumb lights a candle in the library
Thumbellina ices a cake in the pantry
and Cinderella takes a break
Attic
Tammy Faye Baker is a human Skil saw
she shreds the roof to bits with her Super Manicure
freeing all the people trapped by hurricane Katrina
shingles fly like feathers in a slumber party pillow fight
her ferocious eyelashes replicate and become perfect black angel wings
for those looking over Jordan
Across the street
Tesla is enthroned
Dryer # 14 Beaus School of Beauty
pretends to do a crossword uplifted
gaze grafted to the reflection over the back bar
above a pyramid of cotton balls pale potions licorice bobbypin glint
a tableau of pigeons
tenacious to the second story sills’ grace
nestles in crimson & sapphire synaptic strobe nimbus rapture
indifferent preening lays this man to waste
ozone cologne current amplifies
fine attention conducted in ethereal vacuum
majesty in rain
Out back
Moby Dick deadheads daisies
Dolly Parton changes a tire
Jackie Chan waxes his legs
Galileo gulps a lime slurpy
It is 2:15
raining
Otis Elevator takes his
Time
ties his shoe
In the Basement
Under sway of naked bulb
Peter P. writes a letter of apology to his wife
Sasquatch eats peanut butter from the jar
Mr. Rogers puts on his sweater
while Mary Magdalene shovels coal
singing her heart out
and out and
out
©Kim Secunda