Poetry and Artwork

Allison Glock & Ashley Addair

Some Single Girls

Are said to possess
psychological problems
this is not a third world phenomenon
and yet only there
in the dusty hard-footed corners of the Sudan
India, China
do the unwed partner with the dead

If the groom dies too soon
a white cockerel takes his place
or sometimes, the dead man’s brother
the former bride taking a vow of celibacy
for obvious reasons

Some single girls
bend the rules
marrying spirits instead

At the wedding
the predeceased is represented by an effigy of bamboo
with a paper mache head
fed dragon shrimp and sweet buns
and dressed formally as one can
when one is constructed of sticks and damp glue

Sometimes there are mediums
with the priests exchanging vows
the wedding both marriage and funeral
no one pretending any different

After the ceremony
the dummy is burned.

 

Billy Joel’s Girlfriend

put on red lipstick four times during dinner
oily gloss like a fish, no mirror needed
excess blotted on a linen napkin
geraniums blooming in her lap
she snuck a glance in her spoon
perfect, she thought
then started to cry
nothing surprised her anymore.

 

Birthday

In Florida cicadas molt on trees
leaving oily paper husks
empty shells that fool the birds
looking so alive
like I did
before we met
like I would have remained
had you not been born.