Live Nude Aftermath
Jun 24th, 2009 | By Carla Dodd | Category: Poetry | 364 viewsFake pine bypasses his nostrils
Drill into his brain
Numbed by headphone drumbeats
And sickly sweet disinfectant
He squirts and sprays
Wipes and scrubs
Sweeps and mops
Washes and dries
Climbs up and steps down
cleansing
the damp and filmy
stale and sweaty
perfumed and powdered
slick and greasy
traces of humanity
inverted
on a vertical silver swizzle stick
stirred on the floors
of the audience
occupying the mannequins
who have fisted their paychecks
and checked their humanity at the door
night after night
retiring to the faux paradise
of faux pine aroma
wiped down
to reboot what passes for pristine
in time for the businessman’s specials.
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About writebrain: Content Editor, Troubadour 21 - Thanks to Mr. Gackstetter, my eighth grade creative writing teacher who let us write for extra credit if we didn't like our assignments, I have been a poet (on and off) since I was 13. I have a degree in journalism and have written more than 1,000 article, but really started into literary writing for good in the past few years. My work has been published online at Erotique and Poetry Life and Times, and I have been published in college publications and as part of a collection, After the Storm. View my work at www.yourewritedear.com |
©2009 Carla Dodd All Rights Reserved
Incredible piece, Carla. I’m left without words. So powerful and succinct. Bravo!
I have to confess, you are red-hot Carla!
Thanks, guys. This one has gotten quite a reaction, and it literally just “fell out of my head” as part of a writing exercise about “wearing another hat” or imagining you were someone else in an entirely different job. I wanted the juxtaposition of the janitor and the job of “cleaning up” in this particular place.