Tipton Poetry Journal I shook the pills Horse tranquilizer size Out of the bottle And dropped them One by one Into the abyss Of her palm That had once Been so close To history I knew Jack, yes, She began, Anticipating My callow questioning, I was called Jack's girl, But I wasn't really, He was "that way"-You know? I knew but A good interviewer Would have pushed For clarity Instead I was drawn To the nest of Shadows that Congregated Beneath her fierce Cleopatra eyebrows Drawn on so many times They become permanent Like a tattoo She meandered Through the Carousel Club, The Dallas PD, the suits And what they drank

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