Act: 1: Prelude to a Kiss

she was a piece of work
charcoal painted eyes
sagging breasts & hips
wrapped in sour leather
her cheap perfume
waltzing with the smoke from the bar
her mouth as whore-red
as the one between her thighs

--

he was in need of a lover who was very deep
so he had a place to leave his pain
after he emptied her completely

--

mirrors
reflected the light from all around her
but could not reveal the light within

--

sweat stains marked
his horrible need
his eyes stared
empty sockets
empty soul

--

if she wrapped her hopes & dreams around him
would he grind them into dust
with the heal of his steel-toed boot?

Act: 2: The Dance of Despair

soft was the caress of his sweet lips
until the whiskey
when she felt the bite of his cruel hand

--

she laughed spit & snot & blood
her voice stung like shards of glass
the wound went deep
and bled from her splintered wrists

--

she was a song
of crying melodies
painful moans
bruised lips
teeth red & broken
& eyes dark weeping
symphonies of sorrow

--

the cry for help went unheard
in the night of traffic, sirens & tv shows

--

The record skipped & skipped & skipped
after the gunshot sang out "Bang!"

--

she was silence
she had no more to say
no words to voice her hell
or syllables to cry
her vowels unspoken "O"s
her mouth swollen
for all eternity
 
 

Act 3: Death Rapture
 

Alone now
she sucked the emptiness with every breath
how to survive in a place
as cold & dark as this

...better still
how to die

--

I gazed down from my balcony...
there, her final masterpiece lay in
spattered hues of pink & red & and ash
upon an asphalt canvas
as black as her sorrow
the watercolors of her death
stained my mind
never to fade

--

Red red red as a river
of blood
I drank her with my eyes

--

the night is silent now
no words, no prayers
no screams of pain
no symphonies of sorrow
apartment 201
is empty

at least for now...