Loose Buttons in a Paper Cup

 
No, I’m sorry
too sorry to say
that Chloe’s friend died
she held her breath for far too long
fingers wrapped so tight around insight
it snapped the wishbone in her mind


I heard she loved him
and hoped the others got therapy
those insecure boys
on reality tv


I saw him
wrapped around a telegraph pole
it’s certain he lost control of ferocity
but no one knew her name
so they couldn’t check to see
if she was going to be alright
they just left her in the gutter
with loose buttons in a paper cup


before she left him
he would write her
her silent witness
standing in the shadows
with his eyes closed
but the girl was already sleeping
oblivious to the boy
who slipped in and out
of her consciousness


that night I listened
to the unfamiliar voices
that wandered past my window
I saw the walls and ceiling flash red
and heard a boy, too busy screwing
to notice her dislocated shoulder
and loose buttons in a paper cup


Chloe’s friend was in Disneyland
asking paramedics
if they’d been to Sans Sebastian
rambling on about the view
from the hostel window
but she was tired and wanted to sleep
you can’t sleep here, young missy
the strange voice said-


please, hear my obligations
to sleep depravation, holiday remedies
and anti-social calamity
but who gives a shit, about all that
or my deep reflections
and a paper cup
full of buttons
or even my theories
of a black thong
outside my apartment block
slowly migrating
down
the
street