Lisa Locascio. Further, \fle Returned

Further, S7e Returned

Lisa Locascio

Remember vrhen we traipsed, old monster? I wore that coat I was sure was made of sealskin with the red dress over a spare body. (I shucked that body, and that dress always smells funny, now) You thought yourself into a Byronic f.renzy; you painted your tears on with black paint.'We were clowns, neither classic nor pleasant. lWhat strikes me now is the streets as they were, then.

There were no coffee-pubs and it was bootblack winter Streetlamps didn't seem to work. The place we were going w'as a basement without a phone. You sent me out to call for a cab But I got lost and ended up at the currency exchange. A beggar helped me to a phone, and I had nothing for him. He shook my hand regardless.

The light in the place was yellow. Signs told me not to stay. A woman without age muttered to herself in the corner She had decades of eyeliner regret crusted over her face and wore a tunic decorated with stars. She looked at me, past, and spat on the floor, as an afterrhought. I didn't make the call.

Vhen I came back you'd put on a tie, A pleated skirt, mysteriously

You absurd mockery of formality. Your fingers closed around my wrist. "I didn't get to touch you enough today." The words hit my ear, bounced, landed in that woman's saliva. You pulled me to you. "That's what's wrong with me."

Of course it wasn't, but it w.as a cold night. I smiled uncertainly. Received your embrace. The moon had long since risen, and apartThe naked alleys, the quiet deposits of water '\tr7as the city. I saw a man dipping his fingers into a Magnum and sucking. Gently.

Your arms were around my waist, reaching for my breasts. A streetlamp flickered off. There v/as a nameless tail building. I had missed your reading. You were suddenly enraged. "I can't believe you." Apart was the city.

The cab we got didn't have a number or company.'S(e sat in the dark, conspiratorially talking, angrily touching each other. The sudden, absurd burst hit us once more.

'ttr7e had crossed Austin, and the $agnant warer was crystal, The homeless people were charming. Apart was the city.

\Ve exhaled.