Issue |
 |
January |
|
a poem by Melanie Browne (1 of 2)
They Tried to Shut Her Down
They tried to shut her down
like a giant gallstone
like a pinched nerve
like traffic on Altamont Freeway
before the Rolling Stones concert
They tried to shut her down
like a failed TV pilot
like a River Phoenix suicide
like another flash-in-the-pan
sports team from Denver
They tried to shut her down
like J.R. slapping Sue Ellen
like another big Chain store
like the morning after
the condom breaks
and the bathroom tiles
feel cold and lonesome,
the toothpaste tube
rolled back all
the way to the end
& God is hiding
somewhere in the medicine cabinet.
like a giant gallstone
like a pinched nerve
like traffic on Altamont Freeway
before the Rolling Stones concert
like a failed TV pilot
like a River Phoenix suicide
like another flash-in-the-pan
sports team from Denver
like J.R. slapping Sue Ellen
like another big Chain store
like the morning after
the condom breaks
and the bathroom tiles
feel cold and lonesome,
the toothpaste tube
rolled back all
the way to the end
& God is hiding
somewhere in the medicine cabinet.