The Scene of the Crime

by Aleathia Drehmer

I saw myself as I must
have been these last 10 years,
cold and alone, while lying on
the Mexican blanket listening to old tyme
fiddlers jamming in the far tent;

he rose from the makeshift bed, not knowing
that woman, never having the opportunity
to see her on his weekend jaunts to the country
when she was always on her best behavior.

And there it stood in the air between us,
a small firm command with no hint of malice
that stiffened his shoulders and furrowed my brow.
Silence followed as we abandoned the sea
stitched in green and white, opting
for places of stolid separation.

Strings from the banjo and double bass
tuned in the summer air and old folks
gathered closer to hear endearing songs
from youths long gone. I felt inexplicably
ugly in the face of tenderness; always
pushing and pushing until bridges
collapse and I’ve no way home.

marcy

by Aleathia Drehmer

i walked into my secret lover's
room without knocking,
found marcy there shooting up
junk between her toes, toenails
dark purple like bruises,
bags under her eyes
and forehead glistening with sweat.

a single drop rolled down her chest
until it hit the wire of her black bra
and absorbed.

i think to myself
god, she has great tits for a junkie.

and i am jealous
over those breasts
over her dainty heroin fix
over the fact
that she still has him in public.

flowers for everyone

by Aleathia Drehmer

the bartender
feeds her manhattans,
only charges her
for every other one
making it easier on them all.

the more lubricated she gets
the farther her shirt slides
off her shoulder,
drunken body leaning
in a drunken boat
and it reveals
a tattooed ring of daisies
around her left breast.

she can't see much more
than the faint, blurred smiles
wolves licking their sharp teeth.

they want to open her up
like a flower, their mouths
stinging her like bees
touching her secrets, roughly.
they want to fill her
with the seeds of their fathers
and watch her wilt
with the poison.


*Aleathia's blogs:
http://www.myabdication.blogspot.com/
http://www.crobirdproductions.blogspot.com/