1.

Dream Life

Words mean what I want them to
my profile belies my full face
I long for you to wash my hair
smoke and tell stories
Time lives in a bottle
my satisfaction too easy
question the answers
radio mornings
dance to Ella
I'll always make you lunch.
 

2.

Early Rehearsal

Get up in the dark
feel for my pants and shoes
coffee offers false hope
the eyes not responding
Mustard pillars below ground
Wet Paint
voices travel the cold tiles
(mustard gas a possibility they say)
Stand the whole way
feel for my music
reading "Esme" miss my stop
 

3.

Pleasure

In the movies
to smoke a cigarette
looks divine
especially if you are
Charlotte Rampling
To watch the slow melt down
mercurial sylphs of smoke
a liquid Rorschach in the air
eyes tearing
lips pursed to take in one more time
that slim gasper
One's nostrils flared
the burn at the back of the throat
to inhale a demon, to eat fire
to indulge in an ancient pleasure

Beth Levin

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