Compadre
i.m. D. B.
My nerves got on my nerves.
I sewed myself into a padded jumpsuit.
A girl at school razored my hair.
I bleached. Went blue in front.
Five years was an eternity
as far as I could tell.
The alley was dim with a phone box.
Electric light and heat. Anything possible.
Above me in the white plaster sky, my star.
An older sister frowned.
Wham bam thank you ma`am etc.
It was all etc then as far as I could tell.
I was a sullen fucker.
Of all the voices that ever kept me company.
All the shoes I bought and hats I wore.
All the creeping terror and frantic solace.
What a beach that was. What a tide.
So that`s that.
See you later alligator.
Sandra Tappenden
Illustration: Claire Palmer