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reply to rose
by Lauren O'Brien
rose’s body was pierced all over
rose had purple hair
a cool blue stare
and this pixie girl tatoo
rose laughed like bells that would chill you
rose smiled like an angel that could kill you
rose lived like life that should fill you
that’s what i thought
but i was wrong
i got that phone call today.
that phone call
changes time and color
grind my inner motion to halt
the room starts
that kinda slow motion spinning
next my heart starts
that bizarre gripping
sick inner nausea
which later reveals itself to be
my prevailing inner sensation
every time i think:
this is forever
that phone call
rearrange question everything
you changed my life
god and i
are not on speaking terms anymore
quick! someone call an intermediary:
they told me rose is dead.
and
they say she died
of suicide
ok.
i just go numb.
put phone down.
brush teeth.
wash plate.
pace floor.
sit stare.
instant replay:
rose is dead.
first i cut my hair.
next i cut my thighs.
torrential rains.
from torrential eyes.
suicide.
Oh Rosie
i’ll see you on the other side!
this girl had been my love
its hard to say what went wrong
i guess she wasn’t quite as strong
as she let on
when we locked arms
like criminals
we’d always wald beyond the prison walls.
but i guess we couldn’t fool them.
we were such
deviant girls
we went ahead and buried her
frankenstein pills
in snowy hills
i thought
my rose absolved me
cuz
we drove boys mad with jealousy
i heard those frat boys scream
while
rose moved ghosts in cemetaries
and
rose tagged mausoleum walls
with
“rose”
rose, you she washed me there
with your purple hair
and your suicide kiss.
- Lauren O’Brien NYC 1-16-08